The countdown to this year’s college football season has begun in earnest with less than five weeks until Mississippi State opens the season on Aug. 31 against Eastern Kentucky at Davis Wade Stadium. The Bulldogs, under first-year head coach Jeff Lebby, will open fall camp on Aug. 1.

Until then, The Dispatch will be taking a look at each position group on MSU’s roster, noting who could be the potential starters, backups and impact players to look out for on the gridiron, beginning with the most important position in football: quarterback.

Lebby and the Bulldogs’ first transfer portal addition in December was former Baylor quarterback Blake Shapen, who figures to be a solid fit in MSU’s new-look offense. The depth behind Shapen is fairly thin, though — Chris Parson saw action in two games as a freshman last year, while Jake Weir, Asher Morgan and freshman Michael Van Buren have no experience at the collegiate level.

Here is all you need to know about the Bulldogs’ 2024 quarterbacks.

The Starter

Blake Shapen

6-foot-1, 210-pound senior from Shreveport, Louisiana

Shapen arrives in Starkville as a fifth-year senior after spending four seasons at Baylor, including a redshirt year as a freshman in 2020. He played in six games with just two starts in 2021, but completed 20 of 34 passes for 254 yards and two touchdowns in his first career start against Texas Tech, then connected on 17 straight pass attempts the following week against Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Championship Game.

The following year, Shapen became the Bears’ primary starter, earning an all-Big 12 honorable mention, and then was limited to eight games last year due to injuries. With a strong arm and good pocket presence, Shapen should fit well in Lebby’s version of the veer-and-shoot offense.

The Backups

Chris Parson

6-foot-1, 215-pound redshirt freshman from Brentwood, Tennessee

Parson was a four-star recruit according to the 247Sports Composite rankings and was a true dual-threat quarterback in high school. He entered his first collegiate game against Kentucky last November, completing six of 14 passes for 67 yards.

The following week, he earned his first start at Texas A&M but struggled, with three interceptions on 12 pass attempts before being replaced. Still, Parson is the only quarterback on the roster other than Shapen who has seen the field at the NCAA level.

Michael Van Buren

6-foot-1, 200-pound freshman from Bowie, Maryland

At Baltimore’s St. Frances Academy, Van Buren played against some of the top high school teams in the country and was a four-star prospect according to ESPN and Rivals. Initially committed to Oregon, he flipped to MSU shortly after the Bulldogs hired Lebby, and he also had offers from Alabama, Tennessee, Michigan and Oklahoma, among others.

Van Buren figures to be behind Parson on the depth chart, but he could get some playing time late if MSU has a comfortable lead over a team like Eastern Kentucky or UMass. Injuries or poor performance from Parson could also force him into action.

The Others

Jake Weir

6-foot-2, 210-pound redshirt junior from Tupelo, Mississippi

Weir, a three-star recruit out of Tupelo High School, received only a preferred walk-on offer from the Bulldogs, choosing them over scholarship offers from Southern Illinois and Tennessee-Martin. He has not seen the field for MSU in his three years with the program.

Asher Morgan

6-foot-4, 225-pound redshirt junior from Philadelphia, Mississippi

Morgan started his collegiate career at Samford, earning a redshirt in 2021 before transferring to Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. He appeared in four games there in 2022, completing eight of 15 passes for 83 yards with one touchdown, then arrived in Starkville last year but did not see the field.