STARKVILLE – Jett Johnson and Nathaniel “Bookie” Watson will not walk through that door.
Mississippi State’s outstanding linebacker duo combined for 267 tackles last season and 228 the year before. However, Watson is now with the Cleveland Browns and Johnson was signed as an undrafted free agent by the New York Jets, leaving a hole in the heart of the Bulldogs’ defense.
MSU will have to start largely from scratch on defense this year anyway — safety Corey Ellington and lineman De’Monte Russell are the only expected returning starters — but no two players alone can replace the performance of Johnson and Watson. Those who were there last year, however, learned a lot by watching Johnson and Watson and working with them in practice.
“The physicality of the game, how hard you have to work to play linebacker in this league, I just learned that from them,” redshirt junior Nic Mitchell said. “You just have to show up day in and day out and keep chopping wood.”
Mitchell has gradually earned his regular playing time, appearing in just two games as a true freshman in 2021 and working primarily on special teams in 2022. He was primarily a special teams player last year, but made four tackles in the season opener against Southeastern Louisiana and two more in the Alabama game.
His only other big league offer coming out of high school in Jacksonville, Florida, came from Maryland, where Branden Jennings played as a freshman three years ago. Jennings, also from Jacksonville, is at his fourth school in as many years — he played in eight games for the Terrapins in 2021, starting three, made four appearances at UCF the next year before leading Hinds Community College in tackles last year.
“If anyone has the most confidence in my ability, it’s definitely me, and I feel like I’m going to prove that this season and pick up where I left off,” Jennings said. “Nobody loves football more than me. I love football. It doesn’t matter if we have a good day or a bad day, I’ll be back to normal tomorrow at practice.”
The Bulldogs also signed Stone Blanton, an established starter from the Southeastern Conference. He grew up in Jackson and played baseball at MSU before deciding to play football and transfer to South Carolina.
Blanton said it was “surreal” to put on his Bulldogs jersey and walk into Davis Wade Stadium as a player. He faced MSU in Columbia last September and finished with four tackles, a forced fumble and a pass breakup in the Gamecocks’ 37-30 win.
“This is where I grew up and I couldn’t be more grateful for this opportunity,” Blanton said. “(Johnson and Watson) were amazing. I watched those guys last year when I was playing just to see how they did and what they did. I always kind of followed them. Bookie and Jett were fantastic linebackers. We just have to do our jobs and do what we can for the defense.”
The Bulldogs will likely stick with a 3-3-5 base defense under new coordinator Coleman Hutzler, who is also the linebackers coach. John Lewis and Donterry Russell showed potential in part-time roles last fall and have a good chance to start, while Zakari Tillman played mostly on special teams as a freshman but is ready for a bigger role.
“I’m really happy with the current situation,” said Hutzler. “Obviously it was great to bring Stone back home. John Lewis, who made the transition to being a pure center back, had a great spring and summer. Actually the whole group, Nic Mitchell, Zakari Tillman is a young guy who has a lot of potential. I’m excited.”
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