Mississippi State Bulldogs wideout Braylon Burnside hints at position change for 2025

Mississippi State football is taking the beginning steps towards an offseason overhaul. After a 2-10 debut season for Jeff Lebby, there's nothing that the Bulldogs aren't looking to get better at. Obviously upgrading the talent on the roster is a big part of the equation, and the includes potentially moving one player to a new position to get better there.

Mississippi State's Braylon Burnside hints a move to safety for the 2025 season

Braylon "Stonka" Burnside was one of the top signees for Mississippi State's 2024 class. The Starkville native came in as one of three 4-star wide receiver signees for the Bulldogs.

Burnside played in 10 games during his true freshman season, but in terms of offensive production, he didn't see much at all. He recorded just one catch that went for negative yardage. It wasn't necessarily for a lack of trying. State attempted to get him touches in a few games, but the looks weren't there.

But Burnside did show some potential on special teams. He finished with four tackles, laying the lumber in emphatic fashion on multiple occasions. Those flashes left many State fans asking why he wasn't playing on defense.

Stonka played safety along with wide receiver in high school, and some actually considered him to be a better prospect at safety. The chance of playing WR in Jeff Lebby's offense was too alluring to pass up, and given the importance of the position within Lebby's scheme, State wanted all hands on deck there.

But as the year went along and play on the defensive side of the ball was so bad, fans couldn't help but wonder why someone with his talent wasn't seeing snaps in the secondary. Well it seems Mississippi State coaches have come to the same conclusion.

Stonka took to "X" to ask Bulldog safety Brylan Lanier if there's "room for one more". It's safe to assume he's referring to the MSU safety room, which would suggest he's letting everyone know he's making the move to safety for 2025.

Is safety the best spot for Braylon Burnside going forward?

Considering how bad things were for the Bulldog defense last season and Stonka Burnside's potential there, it seems obvious to say that he should move to safety to get more talent on that side of the ball and give MSU another good option in the secondary.

However with the losses State has suffered to its wide receiver room, is it possible the Bulldogs might actually need him more at wideout now? Despite little action as a true freshman, there's no doubt Burnside is talented enough to play the position. They need more pass-catchers, and State has made some good offseason moves already to improve their safety room.

You can truly argue it either way. But if the thought is safety is the more natural position, then he needs to be there. You have to trust State's ability to land and develop WRs enough that moving him to defense isn't detrimental. Plus, who's to say he can't still take snaps on offense? We did just see a two-way player win the Heisman after all.