Three Mississippi State Football Players to Watch for this Spring: Offense

The Mississippi State Bulldogs are getting to start the Jeff Lebby era in Starkville. Now, the Bulldogs have thirty new players for the Spring, including 15 transfers.

MSU needed to go heavy in the transfer portal after losing a lot of production from last year, and also, the Bulldogs needed to improve at some positions. Today, we will focus on the offense, which is the specialty of Lebby, who runs a high-tempo, explosive offense that requires both playmakers and solid blocking up front.

Here are three offensive players to watch this Spring.

Blake Shapen

The key to any successful offense is the quarterback, and MSU has a lot of experience with Shapen. The Louisiana native redshirted his first year at Baylor, but since then, he has seen significant playing time every year.

The initial commitment from the 6-1 quarterback came as a bit of a surprise, as it seemed MSU was working to get former Oklahoma quarterback and now Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel to go on a visit. However, that fell through, and suddenly, Shapen was an afterthought.

Shapen had a solid career at Baylor, including throwing three touchdowns against Oklahoma State to lead the Bears to a Big 12 title in 2021. The fifth-year quarterback was also named to the Honorable Mention Big 12 team voted on by the coaches a season ago after he threw for 2,188 yards with 13 touchdowns and only three picks.

It looked like last year would be a career year for Shapen, but he only played in eight games due to battling injuries. However, this is the perfect addition to the MSU quarterback room as he has vast experience and has shown he can compete at a high level.

Lebby is known as a quarterback guru, so he could not be in better hands, and sometimes a change of scenery brings out the stars in guys. Shapen is likely the starter this fall, but former four-star Chris Parson will push him. 

Makylan Pounders

After losing six significant contributors off the offensive line a season ago, newly hired MSU offensive line coach Cody Kennedy had to rebuild the front five via the portal. Kennedy did a great job of doing that, and the most significant piece of that rebuild was former Memphis tackle Makylan Pounders.

Pounders played two seasons at Memphis and played sparingly his first year, but he had his breakthrough year a season ago. The Byhalia, Miss. native helped lead the Tiger's offense to average 39.7 points, which was good enough for seventh in the country.

The need for Pounders increased after former Bulldog and current Auburn Tiger Percy Lewis entered the portal. Lebby’s explosive offense brings all of the attention to the “skill” players, but it starts up front as every offense does, and the Bulldogs did a great job in the portal retooling their offensive line.

Pounders was not the only former successful starter MSU picked up as they also signed Ethan Miner (North Texas) and Jacoby Jackson (Texas Tech). 

Johnnie Daniels

This was always a solid addition for the Bulldogs, but it has even more value, with MSU running back Seth Davis sustaining an injury in the Egg Bowl. Daniels will come to Starkville from Copiah-Lincoln C.C., the former school of Montez Sweat.

The 5-10 195 pounds running back excelled during his time in Wesson, especially a season ago, as he rushed for 1,253 yards and scored 15 touchdowns. The Crystal Springs native was a consensus three-star recruit and was ranked the number one JUCO running back by 247.

Daniels will be put in a position of success as he will walk into a wide-open running back room. Former JUCO running back Jeffrey Pittman (Hinds CC) will likely split reps with Daniels with the first team to start Spring practice.

Lebby did an excellent job in the portal, especially on the offense side, considering the circumstances. While other additions will likely be successful, these three stick out in a position of need for the Bulldogs.

It is always an exciting time when a new coach arrives, but Bulldog fans have been clamoring for an exciting offense Lebby is notorious for just that and he has brought in personnel to help him do that.