Mississippi State offensive line coach Mason Miller saw something new from redshirt left tackle Charles Cross during summer workouts.
“If a guy would step out of line,” Miller said, “he’d start woofing at him.”
It was clear to Miller and the rest of the Bulldogs’ coaching staff that Cross had reached a new level of leadership in his third season in Starkville. And hopefully for Mississippi State, the Laurel product’s leap will be paying dividends soon.
“That shows me that he really wants to be good and he just wants to win games,” Miller said of Cross.
In his second year as a starter for the Bulldogs, Cross again will be tasked with anchoring the offensive line and protecting quarterback Will Rogers’ blind side. It’s a position in which the 6-foot-5, 310-pound tackle said he feels far more comfortable.
Being able to take advantage of a full spring season and summer workouts — unavailable last season because of the COVID-19 pandemic — has been a big reason why, Cross said.
“This year’s been very different compared to last year just having the spring and the summer, working with guys and just getting better every day,” Cross said.
Across the Bulldogs’ line, that extra time has shown results. Mississippi State linemen spent plenty of their own time on the practice field for voluntary workouts, and Miller said Aug. 7 — just two days into fall camp — they already had bulked up.
“We’re not playing with 285-pound kids anymore,” Miller said. “Every single one of them is over 300 pounds now.”
Cross was at 290 pounds a season ago, already up from 270 when he got to campus as a freshman. But even at his lower weight during last year’s fall camp, he was still dangerous.
“He’s like a pit bull,” Miller told The Dispatch on Aug. 25, 2020. “When he gets his hands on you, he doesn’t surrender.”
The blend of athleticism, strength and skill is why Cross is so highly regarded in NFL draft circles. Draft prospect lists from three major news outlets all show the Bulldogs’ left tackle appearing near the top of the 2022 board.
Sports Illustrated ranked Cross its No. 3 offensive tackle in next year’s draft class. The Athletic draft analyst Dane Brugler has Cross as his No. 22 overall prospect, praising Cross’ awareness and competitive toughness as well as his length and agility.
Even one year of starting experience couldn’t keep Brugler from projecting Cross as a first-round player.
“It feels premature to have him ranked this high, but Cross has the athletic tools and length that NFL teams covet,” Brugler wrote. “Although his mechanics are a work in progress, he is explosive laterally with the body control to adjust on the fly and cover up edge speed.”
Michael Renner of ProFootballFocus was slightly lower on Cross’ NFL outlook, ranking the Mississippi State lineman as his No. 60 overall prospect. That would still put Cross inside the first two rounds, but Renner said a lack of proven production on the field will limit his range.
“Cross is still a bit more athletic projection than he is a polished product at tackle,” Renner wrote. “He allowed 44 pressures on 574 pass-blocking snaps in his first year as a starter in 2020. Mike Leach’s offense isn’t a picnic for tackles, though, as he’s left on an island more than pretty much any other tackle in the SEC.”
Perhaps surprisingly, it hardly matters to Cross where he stands on draft boards. In fact, Miller said, the Bulldogs’ star lineman had no idea.
“He couldn’t care less,” Miller said. “We don’t worry about it, and that’s not something we’re talking about. He didn’t even know, and that’s how he is.”
It certainly fits with the persona of the tackle Leach dubbed a “quiet leader by example” last week.
“You can run stuff back and use Charles as an example of how to get things done,” Leach said. “Charles at a young age is far along as any offensive lineman I’ve dealt with. He’s got a lot of work to do; I can’t say that he exactly plays like a senior. But he played better than anybody his age.”
Although he’s the youngest of Mississippi State’s five starting offensive linemen by classification, Cross has taken it upon himself to be the leader his coaches have seen him become. All camp, the Bulldogs’ young linemen have learned from their left tackle what he recently learned from the players before him.
“I feel like just teaching the younger guys what the older guys taught me when I was younger — just passing it down and just telling them the standard and living up to the standard,” Cross said.
Soon, he’ll be setting his own standard as Mississippi State’s next great offensive lineman.
“I’ve been fortunate to be around some pretty good ones in recent years, and he’s no different,” Miller said.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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