With just 16 days until the Mississippi State football team takes on the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns, today’s spotlighted player is No. 16 Korey Charles.
Charles was a do-it-all athlete at North Florida Christian School, playing running back, wide receiver and defensive back for the Eagles. The Tallahassee, Florida, native was rated as a four-star athlete by ESPN and a three-star athlete by 247Sports, Rivals and Scout.com. He was ranked as the No. 68 overall prospect in the state of Florida by 247Sports and the No. 26 running back in the 2016 class by ESPN.
The 5-foot-10, 180-pound athlete helped the Eagles to a 7-5 record in 2015 as a senior. He led his team with 1,014 yards rushing on 123 carries with nine touchdowns. He also made 37 catches for 447 yards and five touchdowns. He was named honorable mention Class 2A All-State for his efforts. In 2014, Charles led the Eagles in rushing with 1,120 yards and 10 touchdowns in his first year as the starting running back.
He signed his letter of intent to play for the Bulldogs on Feb. 3, 2016.
He then redshirted on his first year on campus. He played in three games in the defensive secondary as a redshirt freshman in 2017. His first career tackle came against Charleston Southern on Sept. 2, 2017. He recorded another tackle the next week at Louisiana Tech on Sept. 9, 2017.
Charles played in seven games as a sophomore last year, primarily on punt return coverage. He played 50 snaps according to Pro Football Focus, including 31 at cornerback. He made one tackle against Louisiana Tech on Nov. 3, 2018.
Heading into the 2019 season, Charles will add depth to the secondary of the Bulldogs’ defense. He has been working in camp to lock down his spot on the second team.