STARKVILLE — Mike Leach felt like his Bulldogs were in the best shape he’d seen them for a camp opening day in his three years as Mississippi State coach.
That was where his praise stopped.
Leach judged his players to be good with effort but occasionally sloppy in the two-and-a-half-hour workout on the MSU practice fields.
“It was a lot to be expected on the first day. We did have good effort. We were sloppy at times, guys going really hard the wrong way. There was more good than bad.”
The Bulldogs worked in shorts and helmets as all teams do in the early stages of August camp.
In trying to improve from a 7-5 regular season, MSU returns an experienced starter at quarterback plus other weapons among its skill players and experience on defense.
There are eight starters returning on each side of the ball.
However, there’s an opening at left tackle.
Charles Cross went to Seattle with the ninth pick in the 2022 NFL draft. He played a key role in a national-best 73.9 completion percentage for quarterback Will Rogers.
The candidates at left tackle are Kwatrivous Johnson, a fifth-year senior who has played mostly guard during his career, including eight starts last year, and junior college transfer Percy Lewis.
Johnson took the most reps with the first team Friday and appeared to play well in terms of footwork and staying with the defensive end across from him.
There were reps when Lewis lined up at left tackle and Johnson at left guard.
The most important reps in the competition will come later with pads and contact.
But there are still things Leach is looking for right now.
“Effort and seeing if they’re mirroring and covering their guys. Sometimes we did, sometimes we didn’t,” Leach said.
Leach isn’t ready to call anyone a starter, even Rogers, who he says will be pushed in camp by redshirt freshman Sawyer Robertson.
However, in his left tackle competition, Leach spoke as though Johnson — known as Dollar Bill — could have an edge with his maturity.
“Dollar has taken a step to the positive. He has to keep rolling, keep improving. He’s lost weight, tightened up. It’s really just kind of clicked for him,” Leach said.
If Johnson continues trending up, Lewis could still play a key role in terms of providing depth and giving Leach the ability to slide Johnson inside.
Lewis was rated the No. 2 junior college player in the country, the top offensive tackle, by 247 Sports.
“Overall we have a chance to have more depth even though we don’t have one guy quite to Charles’ caliber yet,” Leach said.
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