During the offseason, Mississippi State lost quarterback Will Rogers to the Washington Huskies. To replace him, new Bulldogs head coach Jeff Lebby recruited former Baylor quarterback Blake Shapen out of the transfer portal.
Since making it to Mississippi State, Shapen has been a vocal leader in the program. Recently, Lebby addressed the importance of his quarterback’s leadership but also gave credit to the rest of the Bulldogs roster for their desire to be led.
“Yeah, there’s no doubt that that part was huge. But then the other side of it is we’ve got guys that have taken to that,” said Lebby. “Kevin Coleman had not a good spring but a great spring; a guy that’s incredibly trusted inside our building. Kelly (Akharaiyi) [is the] same way. J-Mo (Jordan Mosley) has done a really good job creating depth and playing really fast in a guy that hasn’t played a lot of ball but had 15 good workouts. And they’ve taken to that. So again, there are a lot more pieces outside just those guys, but they’ve wanted to be led, and they’ve wanted to buy into that. So it’s a credit to them, as well.”
Shapen is in a heated battle to win the starting quarterback position at Mississippi State. However, it does appear that he has one advantage over the individuals with whom he is in competition: he has the ear of the locker room. If he can continue to execute on the field and keep a strong voice in the locker room, he will likely earn the right to lead the Bulldogs into battle in 2024.
Lebby explains positions Mississippi State can attack in transfer portal
Mississippi State still has a few positions that need to be addressed in the transfer portal this offseason.
As first-year head coach Lebby explained, he’s currently seeking out every possible solution for those holes in the Bulldogs lineup.
“We’re looking at a couple of different things,” Lebby said after the spring game last month. “We’re looking at running back situation. We’ve got the ability to maybe take one more offensive lineman and maybe take another edge player on defence and a corner. So that’s kind of where it’s at.
“You know, we’re looking to fill some needs and do a great job of creating a ton of depth throughout these next 12 to 15 days and I think we’re gonna be able to pull that off.”
It’s been nearly two weeks since Lebby addressed the need to acquire talent from the transfer portal, where multiple moves have since occurred.
The only position that the Bulldogs have covered (that Lebby mentioned) in the time being is the running back position. On April 30, they acquired the services of former Utah State running back Davon Booth — however, that only came after incoming transfer Rashad Amos flipped his commitment from MSU to Colorado four days prior. In that case, Mississippi State is still in need of another running back.
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