Jeff Lebby was very direct after Mississippi State’s spring game in talking about the Bulldogs’ areas of need.
“We’re looking at the running back situation, we’ve got the ability to take maybe one more offensive lineman, maybe take another edge player on defense and a corner,” MSU’s first-year head coach said. “That’s kind of where it’s at.”
A week and a half later, and with the deadline for players to enter the transfer portal in the spring window having passed when April turned to May, the Bulldogs have addressed two of those holes but are still looking for more depth on both the offensive and defensive lines.
In fact, by the time Lebby talked with reporters after the spring game, MSU had already landed a cornerback in Memphis transfer DeAgo Brumfield, who spent his first two collegiate seasons at NAIA Campbellsville University. He started 12 games in 2023 for the Tigers, leading the team with 10 pass breakups and also recording three tackles for loss, a quarterback hurry and a forced fumble.
Brumfield helps the Bulldogs with perhaps their biggest shortcoming, as MSU’s talented and deep crop of wide receivers consistently won their matchups with the defensive backs in the spring game.
The safeties room has a returning starter in Corey Ellington and promising youngsters like Isaac Smith and Chris Keys, but with Decamerion Richardson turning professional and DeCarlos Nicholson now at Southern California, the only returning cornerback with meaningful playing time under his belt is rising sophomore Brice Pollock. Hunter Washington, who started four games last year, is moving over to corner from safety but still has room to grow.
The Bulldogs thought they had the final piece to their running backs room when Miami-Ohio transfer Rashad Amos announced his intentions to come to MSU, but Amos decommitted last Friday and ultimately chose Colorado. So after missing out on Amos, who rushed for 1,075 yards with the RedHawks last year, the Bulldogs then targeted Oregon State’s Damian Martinez, who chose Miami instead.
Lebby and running backs coach Anthony Tucker found their guy Tuesday in Utah State’s Davon Booth. Booth started his career at the junior college level before excelling with the Aggies in 2023, rushing for 805 yards on 120 carries with six touchdowns. He joins Keyvone Lee, Jeffery Pittman and Johnnie Daniels in the running backs room with Seth Davis still working his way back from injury.
The Bulldogs have already brought in four new offensive lineman through the portal this offseason, three of whom started in the spring game, but teams can never have too many big bodies up front.
Buffalo’s Isaiah Wright and UCLA’s Bruno Fina are the best available offensive tackles, according to On3 Sports, with Arizona State’s Shancco Matautia and Texas A&M’s Smart Chibuzo the best remaining options in the interior.
The best available edge rushers in the portal are Louisiana Tech’s Zyun Reeves and Nebraska’s Chief Borders, and either would probably have the inside track to play regularly. MSU has depth on the defensive line with De’Monte Russell, Trevion Williams and Deonte Anderson, but the Bulldogs now have just two new defensive linemen via the portal — Sulaiman Kpaka and Kendrick Bingley-Jones — after Wilky Denaud re-entered the portal earlier this week.
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