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There are two major things that define a typical Mississippi State recruiting class under Dan Mullen and his staff.
- They are very competitive and sign their share of the top Mississippi talent.
- They make great out-of-state evaluations and are very resourceful in their approach beyond the borders of the Magnolia State.
The 2016 class is no different as the Bulldogs have nine Mississippi prospects in the fold (out of 15 total commits/signees) and are tracking in good shape for several more. The out-of-state commits also feature excellent evaluations. When you look at the players they’ve taken and compare it to past classes, the light bulb begins to go off as to why MSU has been winning consistently under Mullen. They always have players and when they lose players, they replace them with players.
Seems simple, but there are countless examples of programs that do not quite accomplish that.
Current rank: No. 12 SEC, No. 43 Nationally (247Sports Composite rankings)
Top commit: Emmit Gooden, DE, Brownsville (Tenn.) Haywood. The 6-foot-4, 280-pound Gooden is an excellent evaluation and get for the Bulldogs staff out of the state of Tennessee. He has high athletic upside and is a versatile enough athlete to where he can project at end or on the interior of the defensive line as he moves forward in his career. Gooden epitomizes what Mississippi State does as well as any program in the conference on the recruiting trail — he’s a great evaluation and resourceful find.
Sleeper: Greg Eiland, OT, Philadelphia (Miss.) There aren’t very many 6-foot-7, 320-pound offensive tackles out there at the high school level to begin with, much less very many that can play the game and that have as high of a ceiling as Eiland. He’s one of those under-the-radar Magnolia State prospects that stays in-state, develops and that we are all scratching our heads about in a couple of years when he shows up on NFL draft boards and has clearly out-played a three-star rating by the recruiting industry.
Quick take: This class isn’t quite finished as Mississippi State still has several major targets left from near their campus including wide receiver A.J. Brown and defensive tackle Kobe Jones from Starkville High and offensive tackle Scott Lashley from West Point. All three are major State targets who are at the moment uncommitted. Within the current group of commits, here’s another to keep an eye on- defensive end Marquiss Spencer of Greenwood, Miss., is another potential star that doesn’t quite get the national publicity.
Recruiting writer for Saturday Down South
