Cowbell Corner

What to know as Mississippi State football enters second week of preseason camp

Only a few days into practice, we already know a few things about the Bulldogs

Joel Coleman

We're still over a full month away from Mississippi State's first football game of the 2020 season. The Bulldogs have just now wrapped up one week of preseason camp as they look towards their September 26 opener down at LSU. So obviously, it only makes sense that there are many unknowns about MSU at this point. However, after a few days on the practice fields and some conversations with coaches and players, there are at least a few things we can already gather about where the Bulldogs stand as of now:

Three QBs are getting the most work

Two of them, you can probably guess, while the other might be a bit of a surprise. Graduate transfer K.J. Costello, sophomore Garrett Shrader and true freshman Will Rogers seem to be the signal callers that head coach Mike Leach is eyeing the most. Leach said on Saturday he has "three quarterbacks battling it out" – referencing Costello, Shrader and Rogers. He did also mention that sophomore Jalen Mayden is doing some good things too, but it seems apparent who's sitting at the top of the depth chart at the moment. Now the real battle here might ultimately become who is State's QB-2. Odds are, barring an injury or something unexpected, Costello will be MSU's starting quarterback when the season kicks off. But can Shrader, the man that just last year seemed like the future of the program, hold off Rogers? It remains to be seen but judging by Leach's Saturday comments, Rogers is holding his own.

"You know, a freshman comes in and...one of the biggest hurdles sometimes those guys have is the confidence to feel like they belong there," Leach said of Rogers. "He hasn’t done that. He goes out there and competes like he should be there. I think that’s allowed him to compete even quicker."

It bears remembering that Leach recruited Rogers even when Leach was still at Washington State. He's always liked him. It certainly appears early on like Rogers is at the very least on a pathway towards trying to force his way into the picture perhaps earlier than anyone expected.

There are bumps in the road on defense

Look, it's to be expected given a new defensive coordinator and a new scheme. But it's apparent from defensive coordinator Zach Arnett's blunt comments that Mississippi State isn't exactly picking up his 3-3-5 style in stride.

"There’s not a guy on defense that is executing the defense as well as we need them to to be any good," Arnett said last week.

To be fair, even if Mississippi State hadn't undergone a coaching staff change, this year was going to be a challenge defensively. The secondary is inexperienced. Outside of senior Erroll Thompson, there are no 100 percent proven commodities at linebacker. The defensive line has a lot of promise with a good mix of experience and talent, but the unit still features guys that have to step into their biggest roles yet as Bulldogs. Now factor in learning a new base defense, too, and there is no surprise that there has been a hiccup or two.

The good news for State is that it appears the Bulldogs are completely bought in on Arnett.

“Coach Arnett is amazing, nothing short of amazing – a real genius," Thompson said this past week. "So I’m loving it. Guys are flying around and I believe it’s going to be a good year.”

Several other defensive Bulldogs have chimed in the last few days on Twitter, noting their appreciation for their new coaches on that side of the ball.

Leach seems happy with early progress of receivers

And that includes all receivers – the actual receivers, the former tight ends that are now receivers and the running backs. Here were Leach's thoughts on each of those groups from Saturday:

On the wide receivers: "I think they’re motivated. They like having the ball and they like seeing their friends have the ball and the ball spread out over the field. If we drop a ball, we’ve got to take it a little more personally. The volume of balls is something new. They haven’t seen quite this many balls flying around. They’re adjusting to the pace right now. I have thought they picked up the offense quite well. I’m not saying, 'Here we had a perfect route.’ But in general, it happened a little quicker than I expected."

On the former tight ends, specifically Brad Cumbest/Geor'quarius Spivey: "Both of them, when they play their best, they’re not coverable really. Both are strong enough to move the defenders around a little bit as they’re running their route, turning their body into somebody and making the reception. They’re always a little bit open. Brad’s got really good hands. Spivey is just such a big body out there. I’m excited about both of them. I’m excited about the aspect of having big guys out there. Guys like that in the past for me were playing (defensive) end, but we have enough (defensive) ends here, so it’s a luxury – one I think is going to be good for everybody."

On the running backs: "Several of those guys caught the ball well. For the most part, I’ve been happy with their route running. It hasn’t taken forever to get their routes. Like I said, we’re not quite there, but we had a quicker start than I thought. They do catch the ball well and they’re explosive guys. There are a lot of teams that would like to have running backs that are as explosive as these fellas are."

Coaching staff seems to be straight shooters

This is more of an observation than anything that can be backed up with cold, hard facts, but it does look like early on this is a coaching staff that says what they mean and means what they say. There hasn't seemed to be a whole lot of coach speak or blowing smoke to this point. Arnett's previously-mentioned comment about the early defensive woes is one illustration, but then there are others, particularly from Leach. Under previous Mississippi State head coaches Dan Mullen and Joe Moorhead, sometimes you'd know the answer those guys were going to give to reporters' questions before a question was even through being asked. There were familiar lines and cliches. Maybe in a few months or years, it'll seem that way with Leach and his staff too, but so far with this new group, it appears there's a whole lot of honesty and true feelings, which is usually good for the media, fans – and assuming it's happening on the practice fields too – likely for most players as well. Yes, there are times where not everything needs to be said or some judgement needs to be used on how to address a certain topic. But it's tough to beat good, old-fashioned honesty and clarity in a lot of cases.

Keep it tuned to Sports Illustrated's Cowbell Corner for further coverage of Mississippi State football training camp in the weeks ahead. To follow along on Cowbell Corner and comment on articles and participate in the community, simply sign up, get a username and chime in with your thoughts and questions. Also, be sure to follow Cowbell Corner on Twitter (@SIBulldogs) by clicking here, and like it on Facebook by clicking here. Thank you for coming to Cowbell Corner for coverage of Mississippi State sports.

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Joel Coleman
JOEL COLEMAN

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