Mississippi State Football Spring Practice Overview: Linebackers
Taking a look at each position group as the Mississippi State Football team gets ready for Spring Practice in 2016.
The linebackers for the Mississippi State football team have been a solid group for the past several seasons. The Bulldogs are losing Beniquez Brown to the NFL a year earlier than anticipated, but it should still be a solid group that returns to Starkville.
Players leaving from the 2015 Mississippi State Football team
- Zach Jackson
- Beniquez Brown (Early Entry to NFL Draft
2016 Recruiting Class Early Enrollees
- None
2016 Returning Players and 2016 Classification
- Richie Brown – Senior
- DeAndre Ward – Senior
- J.T. Gray – Junior
- Dez Harris – Junior
- Traver Jung – Junior
- Kelan Chairs – Junior
- Gerri Green – Sophomore
- Leo Lewis – Redshirt Freshman
- Tim Washington – Redshirt Freshman
2016 Recruiting Class Players on the way
- Errol Thompson
Technically, the Mississippi State football team is losing two of its three starters. Zach Jackson was a starter in name, but he often gave way to more talented players like J.T. Gray.
The decision by Beniquez Brown surprised a lot of people. I thought the NFL was in his future, but I believed he would have been better served to come back and prove himself more on the field. Still, he should be drafted and have a good chance at making an NFL roster.
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The most important returning linebacker for the Mississippi State football team is leading tackler from the 2015 team Richie Brown. Brown is not only the best linebacker returning, but he is also one of the team leaders.
So who starts alongside Richie Brown? J.T. Gray will be the obvious choice. He played quite a bit as a sophomore, and should be able to contribute significantly in his junior season. DeAndre Ward also played significant minutes and should be in the mix for a starter role as well.
One other linebacker to keep an eye on and should see lots of time on the field even if he doesn’t start for the Mississippi State football team is redshirt freshman Leo Lewis. With the linebacking corps being so deep in 2015, Lewis was an obvious choice to redshirt. He was one of the highest rated linebackers coming out of high school in 2015, and he should have a chance to make an impact as a redshirt freshman.
The linebackers for Mississippi State football were a solid group in 2015. Expect them to continue to be just as good in 2016.