Not much distance separates Mississippi State’s inside and outside receivers on the football field, but there might as well be 50 yards between the two when it comes to their early outlook for the 2022 season.
On the inside, the Bulldogs return their top four receivers: junior Jaden Walley, redshirt seniors Austin Williams and Christian Ford and graduate wideout Jamire Calvin.
But on the outside, Mississippi State lost its best overall receiver in Makai Polk and its second-best man at the position, senior Malik Heath, who transferred to Ole Miss.
“We need to get a lot better at the outside if this offense is going to click the way it does,” outside receivers coach Steve Spurrier Jr. said Thursday.
A pair of Power Five transfers should bolster that position group for the Bulldogs, but MSU doesn’t have quite as much in terms of returners. Junior Lideatrick Griffin and sophomore Rara Thomas will be Mississippi State’s top options, but neither was among the team’s top six players in receiving yards last season.
Spurrier praised the duo as well as Georgia transfer Justin Robinson, who has the size for the position at 6-foot-4. The redshirt sophomore committed to MSU in January and is already practicing with the team.
“All three of those guys are doing well,” Spurrier said. “All three of those guys are competitive.”
Griffin battled injuries to post 269 receiving yards in 2021, in addition to his dynamic kick return game, but he did not score a touchdown. That’s where Thomas excelled, racking up five touchdowns on just 18 catches as he totaled 252 yards.
“It was great,” Thomas said. “Just going out there and scoring, it feels amazing.”
Thomas caught his five scores in the Bulldogs’ final five games, including two touchdowns Nov. 6 at Arkansas.
“I didn’t know I was going to play that much, but when Tulu got hurt, Coach put me in,” Thomas said. “I started making plays, and it just happened like that for the rest of the season.”
The Eufaula, Alabama, product said he learned plenty from Polk in the Cal transfer’s single season in Starkville. Thomas said Polk taught him how to be quick on his feet, the key characteristic — besides having good hands — in the Air Raid scheme the Bulldogs run.
Thomas said he regretted that Polk declared for the draft after one year at Mississippi State, wishing the California native had stayed for another season.
Of course, there’s always an upside.
“He taught me everything I know,” Thomas said. “I really hate that he left. Now, I like it because I get to get more playing time, get more balls.”
Just seeing how heavily Polk was involved in the offense — 105 catches for 1,046 yards and nine touchdowns — could inspire plenty of current and future Bulldogs. Not only is it appealing to transfers like Robinson and former Northwestern wideout Jordan Mosley but to high school recruits as well.
Spurrier summed up the Bulldogs’ mindset simply: “We’re going to throw the ball at you.”
“Anytime you’ve got a transfer, he certainly looks back at what other transfers have done and knows his opportunities are absolutely great,” Spurrier said. “For everybody we recruit as a receiver in this offense, they know they’re going to have a chance to shine and see the ball in the air coming their way.”
That includes current redshirt senior Caleb Ducking, who was used sparingly in his second season at Mississippi State after recording no stats in 2020. Last year, the former Holmes Community College wideout caught nine passes in three games for 83 yards.
Now, Spurrier said, “it’s his time” to show what he has — and Ducking knows it.
“If you look at the history of Caleb, he’s never really been put in a position where he’s been told he needs to catch 15, 20 balls in a season,” Spurrier said. “I think he’s been here long enough. He’s worked hard enough. He knows the standard and expectation of this offense and that position. I think he’ll be ready for a good year this year.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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