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Mississippi State football: Bulldogs would benefit by bringing in Kelly Bryant

By Ethan Lee

STARKVILLE, MS - OCTOBER 11: A general view of Davis Wade Stadium prior to the game between the Mississippi State Bulldogs and the Auburn Tigers on October 11, 2014 in Starkville, Mississippi. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
STARKVILLE, MS - OCTOBER 11: A general view of Davis Wade Stadium prior to the game between the Mississippi State Bulldogs and the Auburn Tigers on October 11, 2014 in Starkville, Mississippi. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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STARKVILLE, MS – SEPTEMBER 01: Keytaon Thompson #10 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs runs with the ball during the second half against the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks at Davis Wade Stadium on September 1, 2018 in Starkville, Mississippi. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /

If Keytaon Thompson and Jalen Mayden are struggling in practice, then the Bulldogs need someone to step in.

Joe Moorhead and the MSU coaching staff would not be considering bringing Kelly Bryant in if he wouldn’t be a potential improvement over the quarterbacks available for next season. Getting Bryant to Starkville would give Keytaon Thompson and Jalen Mayden a possible reason to transfer, and that could be risky for MSU.

Given that we haven’t seen Thompson or Mayden break through yet, that risk might be one worth taking.

In the small sample size that Keytaon Thompson has played for the Bulldogs utilizing Moorhead’s offense, he’s been less than efficient. This season, Thompson has only attempted 35 passes and has only completed 15 of those. He’s thrown for 397 yards and is averaging a solid 11.3 yards per attempt, but that’s in a small sample size and he’s far from efficient in that sample size.

And well, we haven’t really seen much out of Jalen Mayden, a highly touted recruit. The Sachse, Texas native has thrown two passes all season.

The two quarterbacks once expected to be the faces of this program aren’t seeing the field despite playing behind Nick Fitzgerald, a quarterback who has been the epitome of inconsistency this season. And if they aren’t able to break through this season despite Fitz’s struggles, what does that say about their future in this offense?

Had Moorhead made a way for Thompson, or Mayden, to see the field more and get more experience in his system, then maybe we could expect one of the young quarterbacks to thrive in this scheme sooner rather than later. But that assumption can’t really be held anymore because of the lack of opportunity for the two to play and get their feet wet.

Bowl practices are coming up and then there’s the spring and summer and fall prior to the start of the 2019 Mississippi State football season. That would theoretically give Thompson or Mayden more time to adjust to this offense.

Would that be enough though?

That’s hard to tell right now given the overall lack of any evidence in support of the two young quarterbacks.

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