Mississippi State Football Season Preview: 2024 Predictions, Impact Transfers, More

hello again we are Chris Lee and Chase Robinson of Southeastern 16 continuing our preview series of SEC football teams for 2024 today we get to Mississippi State a program that's had a ton of turmoil three coaches in three years this time it is Jeff lebby who has been an offensive coordinator at Oklahoma and before that at Old Miss respected offensive mine but my goodness just the the wreckage of just all the stuff that has happened at Mississippi state that started with the unfortunate passing of of Mike Leech there's been a lot of turnover at State and it'll be interested to see how Jeff lebby is able to reassemble the parts this year because boy there's going to be a lot of new parts or a lot of parts that aren't new but asked to be doing things they haven't done before starting and things like that so this is a hard team to figure Chase it is and they've gone through the thinkable uh like you said like they Mississippi state has gone through what what most teams will never go through and and losing a head coach um just and then all that comes with that the having to to find someone to replace him making the tough decisions do you go with an interim tag do you uh make make the guy the the full-time head coach all the Personnel changes that go along with that and and last year was um you know was the year where they kind of had to make those tough decisions and figure some things out they came to the conclusion Zach Arnett was not the guy they wanted to lead the program and so now they turn to Jeff leby but still the aftermath of everything that's happened is what we're seeing now with the with coaching changes with with Personnel changes with having to completely assemble a new roster pretty much for this year and so it'll be an interesting year for sure for the Mississippi State Bulldogs before we dive any deeper into the dog let's talk about bet online they are the world's most trusted betting platform and your number one source for everything online sports betting right now and you can receive a 50% Free Bet of up to $250 on your first deposit to bet on anything from the Olympics to baseball to Formula 1 racing bet online has every stat every matchup and even live odds and spreads while the games are being played when the game's over you can head over to the online casino get in on a game of blackjack or poker or unwind with one of the over 150 slots games head over to the website today to get in on the action use promo code believe bleav for your 50% Free Bet credit on your first deposit up to $250 bet on line the game starts here Chase let's start with Mississippi state's offense the high points I think that Jeff Levy did a really good job in the portal of bringing in skill guys you got Blake shapen the quarterback who is a a very talented kid had a nice season at Baylor 13 touchdowns three picks uh they landed Devon booth in the transfer portal from Utah State running back is going to be a place where they're going to give carries to a lot of new faces or or give more carries to familiar faces but he ran for 805 yards a year ago at Utah State 6.7 yards per carry they got the receiver in the portal I think if you start logging receiving yards last year regardless of whether they were at where where they were at whether it was an SEC school or somewhere else I I think Kelly and I'm going to botch the name probably akari I guess from utap who last year caught 46 passes for 1,33 yards and L of you see a guy get less than 50 catches and turn that into over a th000 yards but that's what that kid did so he would presumably be a starter at one of the portal spots Kevin Coleman who was in lille's rotation last year there was a receiver is going to get some time and Trent Hudson who caught 551 yards of passes at New Mexico State last year uh and oh and and speaking of guys that amassed numbers sidu Tori the Arkansas state transfer I think of all the tight ends in the SEC his 665 yards last year were better than than any tight end in this league again regardless of stop now how does that translate I don't know but I felt like Jeff lebby went out and made a a pretty nice Splash in terms of a quarterback and guys to get the ball to because there just wasn't much coming back yeah and you had to I mean he he he was in a tough spot of you've got very few guys returning and so um yeah I thought going out and get Blake shapen was a a good decision I mean he's battled some injuries at Baylor in the past couple of years but he's thrown for like 30 touchdowns uh I think in the last two years um so I I thought he was a great pickup I think he fits well with what Jeff leby likes to do um the rest of the quarterback room though is is a couple of high school guys uh that are coming in and so you don't have a ton of experience behind Blake shapen and that's a concern because again shapen has battle injury he struggled with that uh there's no denying that over the last couple of years and so uh they'll try to solidify a good backup quarterback for shapen just in case uh but I like shapen and what he brings in and then yeah the skill guys Kelly aari uh from UTP I saw him play in person last year very good receiver I think he will work well with shaping and I like some of these other guys as well Kevin Coleman who's transferred in from Louisville uh Trent Hudson uh in in there as well and um you know they they've got some guys uh I know they're really high on uh Mario Craver the guy he's coming in from high school he was a a really good prospect there four-star guy uh that will be coming in so he's a guy that that may get some reps early uh and I think he will be uh a guy to watch maybe not this year but in nearest to come uh there at uh at Mississippi State and so yeah you know they had to enhance that uh that wide receiver room for sure uh and and Blake shapen got a good arm he's going to be able to get it to them and so I think they had to go out and get some good receivers but I think aari was a really good pickup from UTEP and and then you talk about the running back room Chris excuse me and and they do have a couple of guys coming back there uh at uh at running back and that'll be an interesting position I think to to watch is uh are these guy are they going to be able to establish the Run game early in the season and it be effective I think yeah I think that's going to be something to really watch can they effectively run the ball I we'll just have to wait and see because I'm not sure they have the EXP experience they would like to have at the running back position yeah and they do have some other parts there Jeffrey Pitman among their rurys average 5.0 per carry last year I think that was maybe best on the team or certainly best on rurys only 54 attempts so and did catch some passes caught 13 balls which their backs tend to do Kavon Lee we talked about him in another video uh didn't do much a year ago but when he was at Penn State I think he rushed for about a buck 30 against Michigan as a freshman so I don't know what the issue was last year with him not playing more but you know there's there's been a flash of talent there so there's that now the problem for them chase is the offensive line um yeah know the left side you can argue they can make it work M Pounders started 10 games at Memphis a year ago he is going to start at left tackle Malik Ellis backed him up or was excuse me who is his backup right now from what I see he started four times for state year ago uh I think he's the only guy on the team was Ellis that that returns that started in the games on the offensive line so they go get an experienced left tackle in Pounders from Memphis they got Marlin Martinez and jacobe Jackson batly at left guard Martinez had 75 snaps last year at LSU I think as a fourth or fifth year guy who's never been able to break through Jackson at Texas Tech started eight games a year ago graded out pretty well on Pro Football Focus and maybe the Highlight Ethan Miner the center from North Texas was one of the most highly rated centers Pro Football Focus rated him the number three Center in the country year we go he started all 12 games but that right side's another story yeah it is and again this is another concern I I I was going to mention minor as well I think that's a great pickup for for Jeff Levy and Mississippi State to get him in that Center position position but yeah lot of guys returning um on the the right side but there's not um there's not a lot of experience uh that that right tackle position I think is is a is a big concern Leon Bell probably GNA get the start there and he's only played in four games and the guy behind him Amari Smith uh didn't play uh he's he's a red shirt guy um Albert ree will hold down to Right Guard Grant behind him they've played some games but uh you know it it's just that right side concerns me you know that um and you know teams are going to see this and and try to expose that um but yeah I think the left side with the additions they went out and got out of the portal I think were really good you mentioned me Pounders I I think he will be an anchor on this offensive line but yeah that right side really really concerns me going into the SE seon defense kind of the same story I I feel like at least and it's not a surprise Jeff leby is an offensive-minded coach a very highly regarded coordinator you would think that he would be able to recruit kids to play to that system and he did in terms of skill position although I think the offensive line could potentially be there undoing defense though boy there there's a lot of inexperience here uh probably the headliner Damonte Russell who's getting some preseason all SEC love he is the only one on that defense that I've seen mentioned anywhere they got an intriguing transfer Corner montre Miller from West Virginia don't look at last year's numbers I think he was hurt in 2022 he had four picks eight passes defended um that should play in this league they've got Corey Ellington coming back as a free safety who had a relatively productive year a year ago but then other than that chase it is a lot of guys who played spot Duty for this team a year ago and a lot of transfers are either Joo kids or they played sparingly at their former schools for the most part yeah there's three guys that I think are going to bring a lot that that are really going to help this defense they bring the most experience that's the guy you mentioned in Demonte Russell I think he's kind of the anchor of the defense the defensive in there he's got a lot of experience his brother dant Terry Russell uh a a linebacker he brings some experience uh and then Cory ell the safety I think he brings a good bit of experience to help this defense so those three guys and those three different positions I think are going to be big for Mississippi State and the Bulldogs need them to step up and be big uh this season uh JP pvis again he he is Mississippi State's top returning tackler up front he had an injury in the spring uh but they all things point to him being back and ready to go and and looking good for the season uh and then uh there there was a guy uh Jenkins Braden Jenkins who a lot of people were were high on Joo transfer uh at at linebacker that uh a lot of people say oh they liked him during the Spring he could be a guy that uh gets some some good time but yeah just looking up and down the defense Chris there's there's so many new faces uh there's a firste defensive coordinator in in in Coleman huntler you know and and I think there's there's a lot of concern on the defense as well uh with this team I mean um how are they going to build the culture I think is a big thing what is the culture going to be like as the team overall for Mississippi State but what is this culture on the defense going to be like because again Jeff Levy a great offensive coach he really established himself as an offensive coordinator but um yeah what what is what is the culture of the defense going to be like I think will be a big question with all of these new faces bottom line this program is just in a tough spot there's no playbook for what happened with Mike Leech I think state made a I don't know if Panic move is is fair I don't know how you put it it made a reactionary move and I don't even blame him you know they they went wasak Carnet and again that's that's an unenviable spot I don't know how you even begin to navigate that but I remember going to Media Day last year Nashville and if you just said all right who are the guys that have not been head coaches before just listening to him speak he was a guy that kind of stood out it felt like the moment was a little bit big for him state made the decision after last year to move on and now you go back to a coordinator who's never had head coaching experience Jeff lbby is liked and respected in this profession I think he'll end up doing okay there but they're in I situations behind most of the rest of the league and and that's just you look across the map that's a lot of transition in coaches philosophies and we have looked up and down all the SEC rosters and and I think it's fair to say that state in terms of just unknowns backups that are being asked to start um I think there's probably more inexperience on this roster and again that goes to the head coaching position too with a guy that's never done it than probably anybody in the league and that's a rough starting point it is you know and and again you go back to what all happen I mean there it's it's almost an impossible situation so you have to rebuild the culture and it's not going to happen overnight like I know Mississippi State fans would love for um you know you wake up this season and they're competing you know at the top of the SEC well it's not going to it takes time you have to rebuild the the program the culture the roster and Jeff Le's trying to do that but it's hard it's it's hard to do that when you're playing in the toughest league in college football in the SEC and so you know that starts with hey let's get guys out of the portal which I think they've done a good job they've got a lot of Joo guys in as well and now they got to work on recruiting get some high school guys in there and some of this top talent um they are behind they're there's no doubt about it but they've got to find a guy and maybe Jeff lebby's the guy we'll see as as the season moves on that can help rebuild the culture the program and get it back to what we've seen Mississippi State in the past and um it starts this year we'll see if they can do it but um yeah it it's going to take some time to get this culture back the way they want it to I mean there's no doubt about that and so they've hit the portal hard they've got some good guys let's see how it translates on the field let's see what this offense is like under a good offensive mind of Jeff lebby uh but yeah it's it's going to take some time to get this program back headed I think where everybody around the Mississippi State Bulldog program would like it to be yeah I think if they can win four or five games in year one that's a big success you got some built-in wins probably with Eastern Kentucky with UMass those UMass is probably a bottom five team in the FBS Eastern Kentucky is an an FCS team that should be a win uh a road trip to Arizona State a down Arizona State that'll be early and then the Toledo game very winnable but other than that um bulldogs probably going to be double digit underdogs in a lot of the games Florida one and and Stark will be one to watch too because that that looks like their most wible game but yeah I think I think they they're asking a lot of Jeff lebby in year one to go to a bowl if that's the goal and I think um you know something something short of that can be considered success I think yeah I I think so too and again um it's it's a tough spot and Jeff lebby again is a great coach you mentioned all all things point to him being uh you know a well like guy good coach we we've seen him work with a great offensive coach at Lane kein as he was coordinator there at ol Miss he's been at Oklahoma uh we saw the numbers they put up last year and he had uh coach Dylan Gabriel at Oklahoma last year so he's coached good players he's put teams in good situations and and I'm sure he's going to look to do that at Mississippi State but it's just the process of rebuilding and it it it it's not an overnight thing and I think people really need to understand that when you look at Mississippi State this year year yeah looking forward to seeing how this goes we'll have state covered in in football all year we cover football basketball and baseball wall to wall literally every week of the year on this channel so hit that subscribe button hit the like button those things help our analytics U the Subscribe is free you just like a follow so we hope you guys will follow us for your SEC coverage and if 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