Mid-Summer MSU Football Crootin' Update

Ah, recruiting. The business (a story for another, longer post) that has become an overnight celebrity in the last five years. It has benefited greatly from social media advances such as twitter. A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, you would wait until national signing day and simply look at a list of players your school signed. Then came recruiting ranking services that brought essence of recruiting, those powerful, magical, skill-determining stars. Now twitter has brought about the want for constant information. This has caused recruiting to become a 24/7, 365 day roller coaster. Since its rise to fame, recruiting has faced many changes. Since it is a year-round fan fare now, the process has begun to speed up. Instead of gaining a flurry of commitments in December and January, prospects are starting to commit in March or the summer, months before they intend to sign. This has also increased the number of de-commitments in the process, which always makes things interesting. Since this is my first recruiting post I figured I would give a little background into "the business."

Now to some Mississippi State recruiting. The biggest news coming from the recruiting scene lately was the flurry of commitments Dan Mullen and staff gained during a recent camp. Within six days they garnered eight commitments, most notably Kailo Moore of Rosedale, Ms, Cord Sandberg of Bradenton, Fl, and Deon Mix of Batesville, MS. Not only are these highly rated players, but they are more than just that for the class of 2013. Sandberg will be THE quarterback of this 2013 class, and check this video out. Hmmm.. Dan Mullen to coach another left-handed, dual-threat quarterback from Florida?? That's all you need to know.

As for Mix, it gives Dan Mullen a foot in the door at South Panola and we all know who the big target is there for this class: 5* Safety Tony Conner. As for Moore, he's a four star, the number two player in the state, and widely considered the top back from the Magnolia state in over a decade. Not to mention, he was named the fastest sophomore track runner in the country his 10th grade year. The summer is always a nice time to gain commitments during the camp circuit.It is also a time to discover talent that has flown under the radar as they come to the camp and run 40-yard dashes and other various drills. One player that was able to benefit from this very situation was Chris Jones of Houston, MS. He has size and athleticism that you just cannot teach. He has upside and potential for days. Other schools will wish they had gotten on this kid, too. Another note on summertime commitments is they sometimes don't stick(especially the big-times kids). It will be a crazy ride to National Signing Day for Kailo Moore. His recruitment is still yet to get as interesting as it could get.

2013 Class Needs and Top Targets by Position Commitments in Bold:

Quarterback(1)

1. Cord Sandberg

Targets: They should be done with the quarterback position for this class.

Running Back (2-3)

1. Kailo Moore

Targets: Corn Elder, Jordan Wilkins, Mark Dodson, William Lloyd (could play S/LB), and Ashton Shumpert (could play S/LB).

Wide Receiver (4-5)

1. Devante Scott(JC)
2. BJ Hammond
3. DeAndre Woods

Targets: Scott Austin, Shelby Christy, James Cox, Brandon Acker, Tyre'oune Holmes, and Tevaris McCormick.

Tight End(0-1)

Targets: Trae McKenzie, Tanner Bryan, and John David Moore.

Offensive Line(4-5)

1. Deon Mix
2. Kent Flowers

Targets: Jake Thomas, Christian Morris, Daronte Bouldin, Jamaal Clayborn, David Mahaffey, Vincent Hunter, and Bobby Billingsley.

Defensive Line(4-5, 1-2 DT and 3 DE)

1. Chris Jones(DE)

Targets: DT: Jay Woods, Rod Crayton, Dylan Bradley, Jacob Chaffin, and Jawon Johnson. DE: Robert Nkemdiche, Frank Herron, Mack Weaver, Za'Darius Smith(JC), and Lauren Jackson(JC).

Linebacker(3)

Targets: Marcus Robinson, Walker Jones, Duke Riley, Rashawn Smith, Stacey Garner, Justin Lucas, and Larry Butler III(JC).

Defensive Back(5-7, 3-4 S and 2-3 CB)

1. Brandon Wells(S)
2. Gabe Myles(CB)

Targets: S: Tony Conner (Umm, duhhh), Jalen Reeves-Maybin (could play RB, QB, WR, or LB), Montreal Jordan, Cortez Leonard, Quinton Lane, Dontrell Nelson, and Justin Cox (JC, former signee). CB: Jalen Ramsey, Jonathan Cook, Jaylon Scott, Tolando Cleveland, Carroll Washiington(JC), and Nate Willis(JC).

Overall Analysis:

Numbers listed in parenthesis next to each position are the number of commitments at each position for the Bulldogs that they feel they have a shot of landing. These are projected numbers at each position that they would like to sign. Recruiting changes daily, so it goes without saying that these numbers are fluid and very much subject to change. Targets are also subject to change. This list could look very different come February 2013. This is simply an update of where things stand very early in the process. It's no secret that Dan Mullen has gained a better grasp of recruiting and his philosophy of how his staff should approach recruiting each year. His classes have shown improvement and last year he took a huge step forward. There are prospects left on the board for this class to be even better. I'm not saying it will be better, but hold onto Kailo Moore, snag in-state studs in Ashton Shumpert and Tony Conner, and go out of state for a star in Christian Morris and this class will again claim an impressive national ranking. Those scenarios could very well play out from now until February 2013, but then again this is recruiting... ANYTHING can happen.