Breaking Down Mississippi State’s 2017 Recruiting Class: Offense

Mississippi State finalized a pretty big recruiting class yesterday. Arguably one of the best in the Dan Mullen era, it features some high profile names that were coveted and recruited by many schools. Let’s take a look at the newest members of Mississippi State’s football team, including the early enrollees.

Quarterback:

The Bulldogs brought in two quarterbacks, and both were a necessity, but for two different reasons. Keytaon Thompson has been branded the future of the program, and he looks as much. Thompson weighs in at 6-4 and 225 pounds and he’s the perfect quarterback for Dan Mullen’s system. As a big bodied, dual threat quarterback, he’s bringing the perfect skill set for an offense that was practically built for him.

In addition to Thompson, Mullen was able to find himself another quarterback to add some depth to a position that was depleted by transfers. After Damian Williams headed to San Marcos and Nick Tiano went up to Tennessee, Mullen found himself needing another quarterback. And he found one in Robbie Blosser, a 3 star from California.

Running back:

Kylin Hill was the only running back that Dan Mullen brought to Starkville with this class, but that’s completely fine. He’s entering a loaded position group, as the Bulldogs have several backs vying for playing time going into next season, but Hill is extraordinarily talented. The four star from Columbus was highly regarded by Mullen, and if there’s anyone that could potentially push for playing time, it would be him.

Wide receiver:

Austin Williams, a three star receiver from Ocean Springs, Mississippi was the only receiver that the Bulldogs signed in this class. Williams enrolled early and has been on campus for about a month now. He stands at 6-3 and 203 pounds and adds some much needed size to an otherwise relatively short receiving corps.

Offensive line:

Mississippi State loaded up on size in this class, and it is a much needed addition. The Bulldogs have had problems on the line the past couple of seasons but it’s possible that they were able to fix some of the issues, or at least partially mitigate them, with this class.

Mullen inked 5 offensive linemen in this class, all ranked as 3 stars by 247 sports, and they’re all rather large. The average weight of the group is 319 pounds. On top of the sheer size and potential of the group, there are also 2 juco signees that could potentially have an impact this season.

As a whole, the signings of Tommy Champion, Tyre Phillips, Cordavian Suggs, Josh Cooper, and Montravious Richardson brings a lot of potential, but it’ll need to be developed. This group is especially important to the team’s longterm ability to produce. Mississippi State NEEDS help on the offensive line. Hopefully this group can help in that regard.

Tight end:

There were no tight ends directly listed in this class (although technically one did join the team) but Mississippi State stockpiled them a year ago, so this wasn’t a huge need.

Final Thoughts?

All in all, this is a pretty good group of guys that could be long term contributors while also bringing in some guys to fill some immediate needs. While this group is small in comparison to most, it’s a group of guys that should be contributors down the road for several years.