DEVELOPMENTAL UPDATE: Michigan State's Dillon Tatum steadily honing his craft at CB

East Lansing, Mich. – Few Michigan State players, if any, improved as much during the 2022 season as true freshman defensive back Dillon Tatum. Now, the rising sophomore is looking to stack more improvement onto his game during his second spring practice season as a Spartan.

Tatum (5-11, 200, Soph., Farmington Hills, Mich./West Bloomfield High) is repping as a first-string cornerback this spring for the Spartans.

Last year at this time, he was a freshman mid-year enrollee, beginning his college career as a nickel back.

He moved to safety and returned to nickel during the 2022 season, and then moved to cornerback late in the season, due to injuries and attrition at the position. He displayed a quick learning curve and terrific athleticism at safety and nickel, giving rise to the idea that he could stick at cornerback, which is an ultra-specialized position. 

But the process of moving to cornerback was more difficult than it looked. 

“When I wasn’t used to it, it wasn’t fun,” Tatum said after practice on Thursday. “I’m being honest.”

He played in all 12 games last year at Michigan State, mostly on special teams.

Tatum became a four-star recruit due to his excellence as a tailback at West Bloomfield High. He expressed interest in moving to defensive back in college due to the belief that defensive backs have longer careers in the NFL, and make more money, than running backs. He played safety, as well as running, back during his senior year in high school but arrived at Michigan State with a limited knowledge base at that position, but very quick feet.

He saw action in mop up duty at cornerback against Akron and at nickel back against Ohio State. 

Tatum played 34 snaps at nickel back in a 34-28 double-overtime victory over Wisconsin. 

And then, when Charles Brantley was lost to an injury, Tatum started at cornerback against Penn State. He played 72 snaps at corner against the Nittany Lions, and didn’t look like a freshman.

Penn State went to the air 25 times in that game, and targeted Tatum only three times.

THE BREAKDOWN

Tatum allowed a 14-yard TD catch to 6-foot-6 tight end Tyler Warren on a crack-and-go trick play. Tatum didn’t bite on the crack-and-go double move, accelerated quickly to stay with Warren, but the short pass, thrown to the short side of the field, was in the air briefly. Tatum didn’t have time to turn around and make a play on the perfectly-thrown ball against the big tight end, but Tatum’s feet and play identification had him in position. 

In the fourth quarter, Tatum allowed a 19-yard reception to Keandre Lambert-Smith on another tricky double move. Lambert-Smith sold a slant-and-go, and then abruptly broke it off into an intermediate corner route.

Tatum, playing press coverage, hung with Lambert-Smith most of the way. Tatum slipped a bit when Lambert-Smith stopped on a dime and executed a perfect right angle toward the sideline. 

Michigan State sent five pass rushers on the play, but none of them affected the quarterback. The Penn State QB had time to stare down Lambert-Smith against man-to-man coverage. 

Overall, Tatum didn’t get picked on in the first start of his career, against a talented Top 10 team.

“I was satisfied with it,” Tatum said. “I felt like I was still getting used to things. It wasn’t like I was nervous, it was more like: Do I even know this technique?

“Now I’m more used to what I’m doing, practicing it every day, and I can go out there and give it my all.”

MICHIGAN STATE’S CB PICTURE

Tatum and redshirt freshman Caleb Coley are getting a lot of work with the ones this spring while Brantley recovers from an off-season procedure. 

Marqui Lowery (6-0, 180, R-Jr., Charlotte, NC) is joining Tatum and Coley in trying to impress new cornerbacks coach Jim Salgado. Lowery missed most of last year with an undisclosed injury, but closed the 2021 season in solid fashion, establishing himself as the hardest-hitting corner on the team that year.

Chester Kimbrough (6-0, 185, R-Sr., New Orleans), who has started at cornerback and nickel back, is also in the picture.  Ade Willie (6-1, 188, R-Fr., Sarasota, Fla.) is likely to stay at nickel back. Willie was close to breaking into the playing group as a nickel last year before being hampered by injury.

Wisconsin transfer Semar Melvin is new to the CB scene at Michigan State, along with mid-year freshman enrollee Chance Rucker. 

“There aren’t a lot of old guys on the defensive side of the ball; a lot of young guys that really want it for real,” Tatum said. “They’re giving it their all. I think we are attacking days a little better than we were last year.”

Cornerbacks Eddie Pleasant (5-11, 178, Tampa) and Philipp Davis (6-3, 180, Lake Wales, Fla.) will report in the summer. 

Tatum can feel himself becoming a more knowledgeable player.

“It’s different because I’m a little more experienced,” Tatum said. “Knowing what a receiver is going to do and how he is going to come off the ball. Watching film and studying a guy. 

“We are one-on-one a lot at the corner position and taking in what Coach Tucker and what Coach Salgado are saying, and we have a few Spartan Dawgs around here like Darqueze Dennard and Coach Barnett that did things and have a lot of wisdom, and they are handing it to us, the answers to the test.”

Dennard, who won the Jim Thorpe Award while playing for Michigan State in 2013, played eight years in the NFL. He didn’t play last year and is back in East Lansing working out. Tatum hits him up for pointers and advice when he sees him.

“He was in the NFL for a long time,” Tatum said. “He’s done it. He was an original Spartan Dawg, and part of the No Fly Zone. He’s a good guy. 

“I’ve gotten a couple of secrets from him, like if a receiver is pushing off on you, you could hide it a little bit and come with them and get a little grab in, a legal grab. Those are things that he knows.”

And, continuing this spring, those are things that Tatum is adding to his knowledge arsenal as well.