Mississippi State practice observations and notes from Tuesday

Mississippi State resumed preseason practice on Tuesday after holding the second and final scrimmage of training camp this past weekend. Once again, the media were allowed to observe a few open periods of practice and we were able to gather a few practice notes.

From those observations, players wearing yellow, no-contact jerseys included cornerback DeAgo Brumfield, safety Tyler Woodard and cornerback Elijah Cannon. There were also a few players not seen at practice and that included receiver Kelly Akharaiyi, defensive lineman Trevion Williams and safety Corey Ellington. In talking to sources regarding Akharaiyi and Williams, they noted that they are among the guys head coach Jeff Lebby described as dinged up and it is not anything serious (sources expect both of those guys to play in the season opener).

Handling punt returns today included (in order) receiver Kevin Coleman, receiver Creed Whittemore, receiver Jaden Walley, receiver Mario Craver and receiver Jordan Mosley. Nicholas Barr-Mira got the first crack at punting today followed by Zach Haynes and Ethan Pulliam. Also with field goals, Kyle Ferrie was the first kicker followed by Barr-Mira. I may have missed one of two but from what I watched, I did not see a missed field goal.

In the defensive drills (setting up interception and fumble returns), the first defensive line group was De’Monte Russell, Sulaiman Kpaka and Kalvin Dinkins. To note again, this is not necessarily a depth-chart detailed situation because other drills were going on at the same time. The second defensive line group was Ashun Shepphard, Eric Taylor and Kai McClendon.

Also during that drill, the first group of linebackers included Donterry Russell, John Lewis and Stone Blanton followed by Branden Jennings, Nic Mitchell and J.P. Purvis. Also in that drill, I noticed the first group of safeties included Isaac Smith, Brylan Lanier and Hunter Washington, and the cornerbacks included Kelley Jones and Tre Wright.

In individual drills, receivers Kevin Coleman and Jordan Mosley looked solid getting out of their routes, particularly Coleman. Also saw good things from freshman Sanfrisco Magee in receiver drills and it is also noticeable that fellow freshman receiver JJ Harrell has added some weight and muscle to his frame since enrolling in January.

With the running backs, Johnnie Daniels and Davon Booth were solid catching passes out of the backfield. Daniels has that good burst and Booth has good moves after the catch. Also on offense, I noticed Albert Reese getting in some reps at left tackle and as noted, they’ve moved him around to several spots this month. But for the most part, that group was still (from left to right) Makylan Pounders, Jacoby Jackson, Ethan Miner, Marlon Martinez and Reese. The second group was Jimothy Lewis, Grant Jackson, Canon Boone, Malik Ellis and Leon Bell. Freshman Luke Work also got some reps at right tackle along with Amari Smith.

The media will be allowed to observed a few open periods on Wednesday, as well, and Wednesday will also be our final media availability of the week.

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