ARLINGTON, Texas — Multiple Mississippi State football players will look to take the next step in their professional careers at 7 tonight (ESPN, NFL Network, WLOV) when the NFL draft holds its first round.
The three-day draft will continue at 6 p.m. Friday (ESPN, NFL Network, WLOV). It will wrap up at 11 a.m. Saturday. NFL.com and the ESPN app also will have coverage all weekend.
Offensive lineman Martinas Rankin and tight end Jordan Thomas — both of whom were invited to the NFL Combine — are listed in several mock drafts. Rankin is projected as a Day 2 selection in part due to his ability to play tackle or center.
“It hasn’t hit me yet,” Rankin said. “My entire life I have dreamed of this opportunity. To know that it is right around the corner is crazy. I am thankful, and I hope I am an inspiration to all of my people in my hometown and to everyone at Mississippi State. I hope to continue to motivate these guys to be great.”
The Mendenhall native played in 23 career games with 18 starts in his two-year on-field career. He became the first MSU offensive lineman to earn first-team All-Southeastern Conference honors from the league coaches since current Oakland Raider Gabe Jackson did so in 2013.
MSU is seeking to produce back-to-back years of an offensive lineman being selected in the NFL draft. Justin Senior went to the Seattle Seahawks in round six last year.
Thomas would be the second Bulldog tight end chosen in the draft in the last four years. The Cleveland Browns selected Malcolm Johnson in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL draft.
Thomas, a native of Sumrall, played two seasons at MSU. He had 31 catches for 311 yards and four touchdowns. He saw most of his action on the outside in 2017, when he broke out with 22 catches for 263 yards and three touchdowns.
Several other Bulldogs could be in the mix on Saturday and among undrafted free agent signings, including specialists Hunter Bradley and Logan Cooke, safety J.T. Gray, wide receiver Donald Gray, linebacker Dez Harris, and cornerback Lashard Durr.
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