EAST LANSING — After three long years of injuries, setbacks and a touch of immaturity, Michigan State's Lawrence "L.T." Thomas is finally beginning to fulfill the great expectations that accompanied him to campus.

This, according to Spartans' defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi.

"This is a new L.T. (Thomas), let me just tell you, L.T. is playing very, very well,'' Narduzzi said, "and the state of Michigan will be happy with what L.T. has turned out to be right now.''

That's saying a mouthful on two fronts.

For one, it's not a stretch to suggest Thomas is the most ballyhooed signee of the Mark Dantonio coaching era at Michigan State. He was a 5-star recruit ranked No. 1 in Michigan coming out of Detroit's Renaissance High School.

Secondly, Narduzzi is not one to toss verbal bouquets casually.

Asked Monday if his defense was where it needed to be right now, Narduzzi replied: " "Never, no, hell no, it still hasn't been where it needs to be, and it never was this year, or last year to the year before — it's never there.''

Yet Narduzzi stood inside the football building one week into fall practice singing the praises of the 6-foot-4, 309-pound Thomas.

"I think it's just (him) growing up, he's tougher, he's more physical, he's consistent, knock on wood,'' Narduzzi said. "He's been consistent. When you're on the field you can get better, when you're not on the field, you can't.

"L.T. has had injury problems, that's why I knocked on (wood), is we got to keep him healthy, because he's doing a great job for us.''

After redshirting his first year at Michigan State in 2011, Thomas played fullback in 2012 before moving to the defensive line for Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl practice. Thomas made progress in the spring of 2013 before suffering a back injury in the summer, putting him behind the curve last season and limiting his playing time.

Narduzzi said Thomas and junior Joel Heath have a grip on the starting defensive tackle positions.

Narduzzi had more newsy nuggets on his defense:

DEFENSIVE LINE

"Inside (at defensive tackle) we ... have to narrow it down as quickly as we can. I could flip a coin with some of the twos that go in there, so we have a lot of depth in there.''

"We've got the best freshmen class D-tackles in the country, I don't know if there's a better group out there, as far as four very, very good ones .... I don't know how many are going to play this year, but at least two of them, and possibly three.''

"(Montez Sweat) is doing a great job (at defensive end). He's tough, he's athletic, and we got to get him ready to go. He's going to be ready to go.''

LINEBACKERS

"(Jon) Reschke played great, so did Taiwan Jones ... (they) played most of the reps with the ones (in Saturday's scrimmage) and looked pretty darn good.''

"Mylan Hicks is playing very well (with the No. 2 defense) at the star (outside linebacker) position.''

"Darien (Harris) didn't have a lot of reps at middle linebacker ... he's playing good, not as good as I want him to be, I expect more out of him ... he's a leader for us on and off the field.''

SECONDARY

"(Montae Nicholson) is a heckuva athlete, he's about as physical of a DB as you're gonna have, might be the most physical DB out there, but he's still learning. He's really, really raw right now.''

"There's some competition at corner; I think Jermaine Edmondson is playing well, Nick Tompkins has showed his stuff at corner as well, and of course Arjen (Colquhoun) and (Darian) Hicks are in a battle out here.''