The countdown to this year’s college football season has begun in earnest with less than four weeks until Mississippi State opens the season on Aug. 31 against Eastern Kentucky at Davis Wade Stadium. The Bulldogs, under first-year head coach Jeff Lebby, opened fall camp on Thursday.

As camp progresses, The Dispatch will be taking a look at each position group on MSU’s roster, noting who could be the potential starters, backups and impact players to look out for on the gridiron.

The Bulldogs, despite losing Jaden Crumedy and Nathan Pickering, have several players returning on the defensive line. De’Monte Russell and Deonte Anderson will be relied on as the group’s veteran leaders, while Trevion Williams and Kalvin Dinkins are back after season-ending injuries early last season. MSU also added Sulaiman Kpaka and Kedrick Bingley-Jones in the transfer portal.

The Starters

De’Monte Russell

6-foot-4, 285-pound redshirt senior from Jackson, Mississippi

Entering his sixth year with the program, Russell became a starter for the first time last season, finishing with 24 tackles including six tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. After appearing in four games and redshirting as a true freshman in 2019, he missed all of 2020 with an injury but has played regularly since then.

Sulaiman Kpaka

6-foot-3, 300-pound redshirt senior from Grand Prairie, Texas

Kpaka spent the last five years at Purdue, appearing in just two games over his first three seasons there before becoming a regular in 2022. He made 19 tackles that year, 11 of them solo, then set a career-high with 2.5 tackles for loss last fall.

Kedrick Bingley-Jones

6-foot-4, 310-pound redshirt senior from Concord, North Carolina

Rivals ranked Bingley-Jones as the No. 3 player in North Carolina and the No. 5 defensive tackle in his class coming out of high school, but in four years with the Tar Heels, Bingley-Jones has made just eight tackles despite appearing in 26 career games.

The Backups

Trevion Williams

6-foot-4, 295-pound redshirt sophomore from Crystal Springs, Mississippi

A much-heralded recruit out of high school, Williams played in three games as a true freshman to keep his redshirt status intact, then missed the final nine games of last season with an injury. He has as much raw talent and potential as anybody in this position group, so if he can stay healthy, Williams can really bolster MSU’s defensive front.

Kalvin Dinkins

6-foot-2, 315-pound redshirt sophomore from Lake, Mississippi

Like Williams, Dinkins has yet to see the field much due to injury. He did not appear in any games as a true freshman, then was lost for the season last year after making his collegiate debut in the season opener against Southeastern Louisiana. If Dinkins can stay on the field this year, the Bulldogs’ defensive line becomes that much deeper.

Deonte Anderson

6-foot-3, 270-pound redshirt junior from Miami, Florida

Anderson redshirted in 2021 and made five appearances, mostly on special teams, in 2022, but was a key piece up front last year, playing in all 12 games with two starts. He finished with 38 tackles, including three tackles for loss and 0.5 sacks. Against Western Michigan, Anderson made five tackles, forced a fumble and broke up a pass at the line of scrimmage, and he made a career-high eight stops against Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl.

Eric Taylor

6-foot-4, 310-pound senior from Trussville, Alabama

Taylor spent his freshman year at LSU but did not play, then transferred to Southwest Mississippi Community College, where he had three sacks and eight tackles for loss in 2022. In his first year with MSU last year, Taylor played in every game and finished with 15 total tackles, becoming a quality depth piece for the Bulldogs.

The Rest

Joseph Head Jr.

6-foot-4, 240-pound redshirt freshman from Lexington, Mississippi

Head had a monster junior year at Holmes County Central High School, racking up 89 tackles, 12 sacks and three forced fumbles. He then had 21 tackles for loss and 17 quarterback hurries as a senior. He made his collegiate debut last October against Western Michigan but did not register any statistics.

Kai McClendon

6-foot-2, 305-pound freshman from Gulfport, Mississippi

McClendon finished his final high school season with 63 tackles (49 of them solo), eight tackles for loss, three sacks and a forced fumble. Georgia Tech and Arizona State were his other major conference offers.

Corey Clark

6-foot-4, 310-pound sophomore from Birmingham, Alabama

Clark began his college career at North Alabama, playing in 50 snaps across four games as a freshman to maintain his redshirt status. Last year, he played at Northeast Mississippi Community College, playing in nine games and recovering two fumbles despite making just five total tackles.

Gabe Moore

6-foot-4, 290-pound redshirt freshman from Louisville, Mississippi

Coming from a powerhouse high school program at Louisville, Moore put up otherworldly numbers as a senior with 116 total tackles (39 for loss), 12 sacks, five forced fumbles and two pass breakups. He did not appear in any games last year as a true freshman.

Gavin Nelson

6-foot-5, 285-pound redshirt sophomore from Birmingham, Alabama

Nelson made his first three collegiate appearances last season, making two tackles against Southeastern Louisiana and one against LSU.

Terrance Hibbler Jr.

6-foot-3, 290-pound freshman from Lexington, Mississippi

Hibbler chose MSU over a laundry list of offers, including Texas, Alabama, Ole Miss and seven other Southeastern Conference programs. He earned first-team all-state honors as a high school senior and was the MHSAA Class 5A Player of the Year, leading his team with 92 tackles and 21 sacks.

Ashun Sheppard

6-foot-3, 280-pound junior from Brandon, Mississippi

Sheppard played the last two years at East Mississippi Community College, helping the Lions reach the national championship game last year. He was the No. 11 ranked junior college defensive lineman in the country.

MSU