Mississippi State football: Jeff Lebby lands in-state JUCO RB commit

The first official commitment of the Jeff Lebby era of Mississippi State football has arrived in the form of Johnnie Daniels, an intriguing junior college running back.

The Mississippi State football team needs to get some recruiting done and it looks like that’s an area of emphasis for Jeff Lebby already. He hasn’t been in Starkville for very long, but Lebby has already picked up one intriguing commitment on the recruiting trail.

Johnnie Daniels, a 5-foot-10, 200 pound running back out of Copiah-Lincoln Community College, made it clear that he intends to play for Jeff Lebby’s offense in Starkville.

And that’s why he committed to the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Daniels isn’t the flashiest recruit in terms of recruiting rankings, but he has demonstrated he can thrive at the junior college level and it looks like he’s earned a shot to play for Lebby in Starkville.

Mississippi State football earns first commitment of Jeff Lebby era as Johnnie Daniels commits to MSU Bulldogs

Daniels announced his intentions to play for the Bulldogs on X (the social media platform that was at one time known as Twitter).

Without it being totally clear as to what’s going to happen with the running backs that are currently in Starkville and on the Mississippi State football roster, it will be interesting to see how the addition of Daniels plays out for that unit.

Seth Davis is banged up from the Egg Bowl, but he’s a fascinating athlete who (when fully healthy) is thrilling to watch in the open field. Then you have Woody Marks, who had his own share of injuries this season, but also could potentially have another year of eligibility thanks to the COVID year (unless I’m missing something here). And then there’s guys like Jeffery Pittman, who had incredible moments in the running back rotation. Simeon Price was last seen in the transfer portal, but it’s hard to know if he’s going to stay there given that he entered before Lebby’s hiring.

And there are others as well!

So, it’s an interesting group, but it never hurts to have another running back who is talented and dynamic.

And that’s where Johnnie Daniels comes in.