The 2024 NFL Draft has come and gone, and three Mississippi State football players had their names called. Cornerback Decamerion Richardson went in the 4th Round to the Las Vegas Raiders. Defensive tackle Jaden Crumedy went in the 6th Round to the Carolina Panthers. And linebacker Nathaniel “Bookie” Watson went in the 6th Round to the Cleveland Browns.

Though State didn’t have any early round selections, it was a successful draft for MSU. Their three selections were their most since having five players drafted in 2020.

Now that the draft has come to a close, NFL teams are beginning to sign undrafted free agents, and Mississippi State football has several players who could end up signing UDFA deals.

Last season, four former undrafted Bulldogs played in the NFL, headlined by DL Denico Autry and Safey/Special Teamer JT Gray, both of whom have put together great careers in the league.

Which Bulldogs have signed UDFA deals in 2024?

Bulldog defensive back Marcus Banks became the first Mississippi State player to sign a UDFA deal, signing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Banks played multiple spots in the secondary during his Mississippi State career. The former Alabama-transfer came to MSU as a corner before moving to safety for his final season, though in MSU’s scheme, he was often playing nickel.

Banks’ biggest highlight of his career by far came in the 2023 ReliaQuest Bowl when he ran a fumble back for a TD as the clock expired to secure a 19-10 win over Illinois as State honored the late Mike Leach.

Many expected WR and kick returner Tulu Griffin to be taken in the draft. Instead, he’s signing a UDFA deal with the Las Vegas Raiders.

Griffin was an electrifying player during his Bulldog career. An explosive play-maker, he was great at taking quick passes long distances. Over his final two seasons, he caught 90 passes for 1160 yards and eight TDs. He was even better as a kick returner, with a pair of KR TDs at State.

Tulu gets to remain teammates with former Bulldog CB Decamerion Richardson in Vegas, and he has a great chance to make it in the league as special teams superstar.

MSU safety Shawn Preston is getting a NFL opportunity as well. The hard-hitting DB has been invited to the New Orleans Saints’ rookie minicamp.

It doesn’t appear that Preston is officially signing a deal yet with the Saints, but he will get the opportunity to earn a deal at the minicamp.

MERIDIAN, Miss. (WTOK) – Players from all over the East Mississippi area competed at the Scholastic Spring Chess Tournament at the Mississippi Children’s Museum of Meridian on Saturday morning.

The 1500 year old game was turned into a multi-level tournament in swiss-format with K-8 unrated and rated players, and K-12 rated players. There were a total of 5 rounds for the entire game.

“We have a lot of rated players, which means we have a lot of serious players showing up,” said Daniel Roberts, Northwest Middle School Chess Team’s Coach. “We also have a lot of unrated players, especially in the K-3 K-8 area, which means we have a lot of new players who are starting to get interested in chess and that’s what we need for the growth, to get people into it and started.”

Chess is a way to get children involved while also sharpening their brain skills on many different levels.

“Chess has a direct impact on math, reading, problem solving, even behavioral skills,” said Roberts. “They get so much more out of it by learning how to play chess, and it’s just a great development skill all around.”

Some of the players were trained by their parents, and others are on actual chess teams at their schools.

“It has really become such a thing; a lot of schools are teaching chess and have chess clubs now,” said Hope Vollm, who is the Assistant Director of Education and Programs at MCM. “I know they were just saying, like Kemper County has just like really started out in their schools and they brought a whole bus today. Meridian does it as well, and Lamar has a chess team.”

There were more than 70 children who played in the chess tournament. Not only were there several participants, but their parents stayed and supported them through their game.

“Also what I’m excited about is we have a lot of parents showing up and the parent involvement is so important with these kids getting them in something as productive as chess,” said Roberts.

Trophies were awarded to the top three players in each division.

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JACKSON — Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks commissioners voted to accept the waterfowl program proposals for new season dates. The most significant changes are duck season will have two splits this year instead of three and the dove season will change. 

Splits is the term used to describe the breaking up of the migratory bird seasons. Mississippi used three segments for the duck season last year to take advantage of weekends, holidays and to stay within federal season frameworks. 

Houston Havens, waterfowl program coordinator, said they used the same criteria this year and due to Thanksgiving falling on Nov. 28, the 2024-25 duck season will have two splits. The first split is Nov. 28 through Dec. 1 and the second split is Dec. 7 through Jan. 31. 

“January 31 is the latest allowed by federal frameworks. Our season goes the full 60 days,” Havens said. “Most hunters have requested the season to go the latest it can go and Thanksgiving weekend is the typical opener. The way Thanksgiving fell changed things a little bit.” 

Youth, Veteran and Active Military will have a special duck hunting season on February 8 and 9. 

Dove season change

Havens requested the commission change the dove season opener for the North Mississippi zone. The north Mississippi dove zone is defined as areas north of US84 plus areas south of US84 but west of MS 35. The south Mississippi dove zone is defined as areas south of US84 and east of MS35. 

Hunting clubs have requested a few times for some changes to be made to the dove season. It is not a significant change and really only changes the second and third splits of the dove season. 

Commissioners approved the north zone dates to be changed to Sept. 1 through Sept 29, Oct. 12 through Nov. 10 and Dec. 27 through Jan. 26. Opening day of dove season will be on a Sunday. 

“This uses the 90 days maximum allowed under federal frameworks. We tried to split them and maximize the weekend opportunities,” Havens said. “Last time the opening day of Dove season fell on a Sunday the commission still used Sept. 1 as the opener. We realize this is the same season used in the south zone. We could list this as a statewide season in the regulations.” 

Havens reminded commissioners the zones would still be separate if they ever wanted to go back to different dates for the specific zones. 

Other hunting seasons

The September Canada Goose season will open Sept. 1 and run until Sept. 30 as normal. Early Teal season will run from Sept. 14 to Sept. 29. 

Rails and Gallinules will open Sept. 1 to Sept. 30 and Nov. 22 to December 31. Snipe season will be open Nov. 14 to February 28. Woodcock season is from Dec. 18 to Jan. 31. 

Regular goose seasons will be Nov. 11 to Nov. 24, Nov. 28 to Dec. 1 and Dec. 7 to Jan. 31. Havens said the goose season has more days allowed under the federal law than duck season and the department tries to overlap the goose dates first with duck season dates. The MDWFP then tacks on the rest of the goose season dates to the front of the season. 

Crow season, which is set by state statute, will run from Nov. 2 to February 28. Light goose conservation order sets dates from October to March which do not fall on waterfowl seasons. Light geese can be hunted from Oct. 1 to Nov. 10, Nov. 25 to Nov. 27, Dec. 2 to Dec. 6, Feb. 1 to Feb. 7 and Feb. 10 to March 31. 

Havens said all of the season dates were selected based on survey data collected in may. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service looks at breeding numbers and breeding habitat and produces a report each summer from the prairie pothole region. A majority of Mississippi’s ducks come from the prairie pothole region in central Canada, North Dakota and South Dakota. 

“We have seen overall decline, mallards in particular, but we are hopeful the decline will not continue,” Havens said. “Benchmarks are within the system should we have a continued decline to where we would have to shorten the season and reduce bag limits. We are not there yet and hopefully won’t be. We will pay attention to those surveys as they are implemented and data is released.”