Mississippi State football notebook: Kylin Hill remains unavailable and other updates

Bulldogs head coach Mike Leach met with reporters on Tuesday

One of Mississippi State's best playmakers' future remains up in the air. Bulldogs head coach Mike Leach met with reporters on Tuesday night and was asked for an update on senior running back Kylin Hill, who missed this past Saturday's game against Texas A&M for an unspecified reason. Leach gave very little clarity on Tuesday.

"No, there’s no update," Leach said. "He’s still unavailable dealing with personal issues."

Leach told ESPN this past Saturday that Hill wouldn't be dressed out or on the sidelines against the Aggies. Hill was active on social media during the afternoon, posting to Twitter just 30 minutes prior to game time.

"Bad rumors bad for ya health," Hill posted at the time.

Bad rumors bad for ya health ..

— Kylin Hill (@H_Kylin) October 17, 2020

In Hill's absence, true freshmen Jo'Quavious Marks and Dillon Johnson handled the running back duties against Texas A&M with Marks drawing the start. It's unclear if that might be the plan for the foreseeable future, or if Hill could return to action when Mississippi State next hits the field on October 31 at Alabama.

Wishing Shrader the best

While Hill's status is still in question, it's more clear for Garrett Shrader. The quarterback-turned-receiver is hitting the transfer portal he announced on Tuesday and Leach said on Tuesday he's hoping good things for Shrader in the future.

"I think Garrett wants to play quarterback," Leach said. "We wish him the best. He was a good teammate and we enjoyed having him."

Shrader started four games at quarterback for MSU last year and looked poised to be the signal caller of the future for the Bulldogs. However Leach was hired this past January, ushered in his Air Raid offense, then ultimately chose to rely on quarterbacks K.J. Costello and Will Rogers while moving Shrader to receiver.

"(Costello and Rogers) outperformed (Shrader) and then we felt like he’d make a great tight end," Leach said. "We still think that, but he’s got other interests...We wish him the best and if he decides he wants to be a quarterback, I hope that works out for him."

As for Costello and Rogers...

The top two quarterbacks on MSU's depth chart will battle it out over the next couple of weeks to see who draws the start on Halloween night in Alabama. Costello has started all four games for Mississippi State this season, but has struggled with turnovers and production and has been replaced by Rogers in the middle of the last two contests. Now, the starting position is back up for grabs.

"They’ll split reps and we’ll see who moves the offense the best," Leach said of the plan for the next two weeks.

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