Players come, players go at MSU during offseason
Since the start of the global pandemic, college football hasn’t been immune to the wild year that everyone has lived through to this point.
Teams across the country are going through major changes from coaching to the roster. Many teams are expecting to return players that normally would not come back for another season but will take advantage of the NCAA mandate that 2020 did not count against anyone’s eligibility.
MSU has seen deflections and additions in recent weeks as players have decided to make their decisions known. The latest was fifth-year senior Osirus
Mitchell and he announced that he would be foregoing a sixth year in hopes of starting his career in professional football.
The Bulldog receiver was a big part of the offense over the course of the last three seasons and he finishes his career with 1,413 yards and 14 touchdowns on 107 catches. This year saw Mitchell earn career highs with 47 catches and 505 yards and he added four touchdowns. He came a long way from being a virtual unknown in the 2016 signing class and a late addition during the summer after the Bulldogs missed out on players like A.J. Brown and Zach Farrar in the class.
Most of MSU’S fifth-year seniors are not planning on returning for a sixth year. Linebacker
Erroll Thompson, defensive ends Kobe Jones and Marquiss Spencer and offensive guard Dareuan Parker have already announce their intentions of turning professional. The same can be said for senior running back Kylin Hill and junior Marcus Murphy, both of which opted out of the 2020 season and announced their intentions of going pro as well. MSU is still waiting on offensive guard Greg Eiland to announce his decision, but sources have indicated for several weeks that he, too, will be going pro.
The Bulldogs have had their share of returnees as well, however. Fifth-year senior safety C.J. Morgan will return for a sixth year after missing all of
2020 with an injury. Fellow senior safety Fred Peters is also coming back after having a season-ending bicep injury following just four games. Kicker Brandon Ruiz announced his return to Starkville and adds a critical piece of the MSU special teams.
Though there hasn’t been an announcement, look for wide receiver Javonta Payton and offensive linemen Scott Lashley of West Point and Laquinston
Sharp of Columbus to also return to the Bulldogs for a final season. Lashley transferred from Alabama for a final season but missed all of the year with an injury himself.
There’s also been a lot of turnover for MSU in the transfer portal this season after Leach took over as head coach and the roster restructuring is beginning. A total of 22 players have transferred since the start of Leach’s tenure a year ago. The Bulldogs have had 16 players leave the team since the middle of the season, very few of which were key contributors.
Since the season ended, Lee Witherspoon transferred to UAB and the Bulldogs have also seen former Starkville receiver Cameron Gardner hit the transfer portal along with offensive lineman James Jackson and former Noxubee County receiver Kyziah Pruitt. Kicker Jace Christmann is also transferring after Ruiz won out on the kicking job and the longtime kicker is rejoining Dan Mullen and his program at Florida.
MSU has 83 scholarships available due to probation stemming from an academic
misconduct scandal within the athletic department last year. The Bulldogs lost two scholarship for a two-year period. MSU is only allowed to sign as many as 26 players in the class of 2021, including incoming transfers.
With current signees and enrollees both in the class and from the transfer portal, State has 22 players currently slated to come in with four more scholarships available for the February signing day as well as through the transfer portal.