STARKVILLE — Mississippi State University football coach Dan Mullen likes his offensive line heading into the 2012 season.
As long as there are no injuries of course.
The fourth-year head coach suggested Sunday after his team’s first practice in shoulder pads Sunday that the youth in the backup roles on the offensive line “does make you nervous”.
“I’d love the youth to be in a backup role this year instead of being forced into a starting role,” Mullen said Sunday.
In Saturday’s split-squad practices, MSU still has some question marks as to starting positions heading into the Sept. 1 season opener vs. Jackson State (6 p.m., Fox Sports Net).
The positional battles in front of quarterback Tyler Russell and the MSU running game still include right tackle where junior college transfer Charles Siddoway and sophomore Damien Robinson each have a chance to grab the job.
“Right now, they’re competing and we have them both at right tackle and somebody has to be a swing guy to be able to learn left,” Mullen said.
At right guard there is questions as to the health status of senior Tobias Smith despite the former Columbus High School standout saying he’ll be ready for the start of the season.
“Last summer I started to feel pretty good and now I’m just limited in some things but when it’s time to get back in the swing of things, they’ll have me ready to go,” Smith said. “If push came to shove, I would get in there because I’m able but right now I’m just limited.”
The limited status of Smith leaves the depth at that position to sophomore Ben Beckwith and after having at least three starters out of the lineup with injuries last season Mullen isn’t wild about the idea of having to turn to the seventh or eighth option up front in 2012.
“Really the week after training camp is when we start to figure out who our five best guys are going to be in multiple combinations,” Mullen said. “You always have to be prepared for injuries. If the center goes down, how do we get our best five guys on the field? Making sure we have those combinations set.”
Bulldogs pick up DL Urlic Jones from Oxford (Ala.) High School for 2013 class
MSU reportedly picked up their 15th verbal commitment of the 2013 recruiting class this weekend.
According to 247Sports.com, Oxford (Ala.) High School defensive lineman Ulric Jones decided to end his recruiting process by calling the MSU coaching staff Sunday to officially announce his verbal intention to join the Bulldogs program.
Jones is a three-star prospect according to many of the recruiting services websites and is the high school teammate on the same defensive line as Trent Simpson, who verbally committed to Mississippi State last week.
With the addition of the Oxford (AL) High School duo of Simpson and Jones, MSU has three defensive end prospects verbally committed to the upcoming recruiting class. All prospects have to wait till the first week in February to sign a National Letter-of-Intent to make their commitment official.
Jones selected MSU over scholarship offers over Arkansas State University, University of Memphis and Troy University while getting interest from Southeastern Conference powers University of Alabama, University of Arkansas and University of Georgia.
Jones, who led Oxford’s defense to a 12-2 record last year under head coach John Grass, is ranked as he 16th best prospect in the state of Alabama and 32nd best strong-side defensive end according to 247sports.com.
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