Michigan State football: Dylan Barrett, Cameron Martinez recap visits

Michigan State football coaches hosted a plethora of recruits for a pre camp recruiting event last week, I caught up with a couple more of the top 2020 players in attendance.

On July 31, Michigan State football coaches hosted most of their committed players in the 2019 class as well as a plethora of recruits in both the 2019 and 2020 recruiting classes. The event allowed the recruits to check out the current players conducting a workout, and then team meetings to get a feel for the program. It also gave the recruits a chance to tour the campus, check out the facilities and get to know the coaches, players and the other recruits who attended.

One of those players was Dylan Barrett, a 6-foot-5, 290-pound offensive lineman from Saint Charles, Ill., who attends high school at Saint Charles East. Barrett is in the 2020 recruiting class and a major target for the Michigan State football coaches.

Catching up with Barrett I was able to ask him what his favorite part of the visit was. Barrett replied “seeing all the coaches and being around the players.” Coach Salem is his primary recruiter right now, but I would expect coach Burton and coach Staten to jump in as well when communication with the 2020 recruiting class restrictions get lifted in September. He told me that the Spartan coaches have been recruiting him “since about mid winter.”

Michigan State football has had a ton of success in the state of Illinois finding major impact players. Many of those guys have been on both the defensive and offensive lines. The trio of Allen brothers, the Panasiuk brothers, Raequan Williams, Naquan Jones and Dashaun Mallory. I asked Barnett if the coaches let him know about all the success Illinois players have had at Michigan State, and if he knew any of the current players. “Yeah for sure, and Kevin Jarvis, I knew him from playing high school football when he played.”

Watching his tape, you see a lot of similarities in his style and makeup to that of a lot of the Illinois guys on the roster. He is a very physical and aggressive player who has great strength. He uses good technique and has very strong hands, once he latches on to the defender, the play routinely ends with the defender on his back. I asked Barrett where the strong technique came from “it comes from strong trainers and coaches, and once I learn it from them I go on my own and practice it a bunch there.” Describing his game he said ” physical, and I play with a chip on my shoulder.”

Talking to him about his recruitment with the Michigan State football coaches he said their message to him is “they are very interested, and they want to get the process rolling.”  He told me some of the things he likes the most about Michigan State is “I like the coaching staff, and the campus is pretty too. They do everything to win a Big Ten championship, and you see that.” It’s very early in the process, and Barrett doesn’t have an offer from Michigan State yet. But Barrett told me “if I do get the opportunity to play there, I will strongly consider them.” Barrett plans to try to make it back to campus for the Michigan game.

Cameron Martinez, a 5-foot-11, 190-pound defensive back in the 2020 recruiting class from Muskegon was also on campus. Martinez is a very versatile athlete, he plays quarterback and safety for his high school team. Martinez attended Muskegon Catholic Central his first two years of high school, but has transferred to Muskegon High School to finish up his high school career.

Martinez is a player who has great speed and really quick feet, that allows him to change direction and come in and out breaks quickly. He has great acceleration and shows great ball skills at defensive back. He also plays quarterback where he has the ability to make a ton of plays with his feet. He has the ability to make plays with his arm as well, playing behind the defending state champions offensive line this year, expect him to put up huge numbers. Describing his game he said, “I’d say very versatile. I can play multiple positions at any time, and feel like I can make a difference any of those positions.”

I caught up with Martinez and got his thoughts on his visit and the Michigan State football program. Asking him his favorite part of the visit he told me “talking to coach Bullough.” His message to him was ” asked how I was doing, and what position I wanted to play, and just small talk.” Asking what position Michigan State football coaches like him at, he told me defensive back.

On Michigan State, Martinez  said his favorite part is “the campus. I learned to like it a lot, being there so many times.” I asked him if he knew how many times he’s been on campus he replied “it’s too many to count now haha.” I asked him what the coaches were saying about an offer and his understanding on the coaches being slower than most schools on giving them out. “Yeah they’re pretty slow with the process, but they just said to be patient. That they have a different process than most. I haven’t worried or asked them about it, they addressed that early on to me.”

On what an offer from Michigan State would mean Martinez said “it would mean a lot. It would be real big.” Martinez didn’t have any rooting interest growing up when it came to MSU and UM.