Football team talent

[MoreCowbell]

The site I linked shows the consensus for the top draft eligible players for 2025. There are 847 players total. We have a whopping 3 players in the top 847 and they come in at 383, 600 and 807 respectively which means they will not come close to being drafted. It is the TE brothers that transferred in and another tight end I have never heard of. We have zero other players. That is not good.

I knew we were lacking but damn we might need to temper any and all expectations. We will likely suck really bad. Southern Miss has 3.

If Lebby takes this group of players to a bowl I will be very impressed.

For comparison what we had in previous years:
2024: 11
2023: 5
2022: 4
2021: 7
2020: 10
2019: 9



https://www.nflmockdraftdatabase.com/big-boards/2025/consensus-big-board-2025

[Cooterpoot]

. We've got a lot of younger talent we need to grow up fast.

[confucius say]

As I said in March, Complete rebuild. Temper expectations. Our over under is 4.5 for a reason.

If lebby gets to 6 wins he should be a finalist for sec coach of the year

[No BS Dawg]

As I said in March, Complete rebuild. Temper expectations. Our over under is 4.5 for a reason.

If lebby gets to 6 wins he should be a finalist for sec coach of the year

This ^^^^^

[Coach34]

Talent is probably a little better than they think but its a def rebuild. 6 wins and everybody should be happy

[Commercecomet24]

If Lebby can get 6 wins I'll be happy. Year one if we can be competitive and look like a real football team I'll believe we're headed in right direction if we only win 4-5

[Quaoarsking]

That Florida game in week 4 looms large. Win that and we're probably 4-0 with home games against Arkansas and UMass still on the schedule. Also Missouri and Texas A&M should be winnable at home too, even if we aren't favored.

[ScooterDog]

I think the offense will be competitive and entertaining. It's the defense that I an concerned about. Hopefully they will surprise us.

[Jarius]

We upgraded at every position on offense from last year except tailback. We downgraded in about half the positions on defense. That equals a net positive off of a team that won 5 games last year. The schedule is 2 games more difficult this year though.

[Bothrops]

We upgraded at every position on offense from last year except tailback. We downgraded in about half the positions on defense. That equals a net positive off of a team that won 5 games last year. The schedule is 2 games more difficult this year though.

I'm not sure we downgraded at tailback. I expect slightly better numbers, or similar numbers. The defense will getting raped. Even by non con teams. We missed and missed again in our attempt to rectify that with transfers, although I do like a couple of the secondary guys though. That said, a pre season mock draft is almost worthless when it come us. We got some dudes on offense.

[Jarius]

I'm not sure we downgraded at tailback. I expect slightly better numbers, or similar numbers. The defense will getting raped. Even by non con teams. We missed and missed again in our attempt to rectify that with transfers, although I do like a couple of the secondary guys though. That said, a pre season mock draft is almost worthless when it come us. We got some dudes on offense.

I agree. I was being generous to the former team with tailback. The coaching on offense is also miles ahead of last year on that side of the ball. I don’t know how Lebby will be as a head coach, but I’m confident in the offense being very productive.

[MoreCowbell]

I'm not sure we downgraded at tailback. I expect slightly better numbers, or similar numbers. The defense will getting raped. Even by non con teams. We missed and missed again in our attempt to rectify that with transfers, although I do like a couple of the secondary guys though. That said, a pre season mock draft is almost worthless when it come us. We got some dudes on offense.

It is not a mock draft necessarily, it is a consensus of the top 840 draft eligible players in the entire country. We only have 2 players that are even being listed as having a chance to be picked up as an UDFA. Pretty bad.

[Bothrops]

It is not a mock draft necessarily, it is a consensus of the top 840 draft eligible players in the entire country. We only have 2 players that are even being listed as having a chance to be picked up as an UDFA. Pretty bad.

They have us with 3 TE players. They have OM with 22 players, please.

[Walkerhill]

The site I linked shows the consensus for the top draft eligible players for 2025. There are 847 players total. We have a whopping 2 players in the top 847 and they come in at 383 and 807 respectively which means they will not come close to being drafted. It is the TE brothers that transferred in. We have zero other players. That is not good.

I knew we were lacking but damn we might need to temper any and all expectations. We will likely suck really bad. Southern Miss has 3.

If Lebby takes this group of players to a bowl I will be very impressed.

For comparison what we had in previous years:
2024: 11
2023: 5
2022: 4
2021: 7
2020: 10
2019: 9



https://www.nflmockdraftdatabase.com/big-boards/2025/consensus-big-board-2025

This list and others like it discount players coming off down years, transfers, or low PT players. It also excludes most underclassmen. That is pretty much all of our players.

Assuming they update and expand this list, I expect to see players like Kelly A, Ethan Miner, Jayden Walley (if healthy), Montrell Miller jump into the top 1000 by mid season. They may not all be drafted but hard to imagine they are not at least deep cut UDFA prospects.

[maroonmania]

As with most State sports in these days of NIL just keep expectations low to avoid disappointment. Offense should certainly be improved but I was shocked at how ineffective we were in the portal on defense given the opportunity we had for players to start in the SEC. I know we have some unknown defensive coaches but I feel there was more to it than that. Maybe we spent all our NIL funds on offense.

[Offshore Dawg]

I think the offense will be competitive and entertaining. It's the defense that I an concerned about. Hopefully they will surprise us.

not if they keep punching out frat boys !!

[BigDawg81]

Leach recruited to his system and it worked but outside of his system, it?s straight trash. Arnett couldn?t recruit either and it showed. How many signees are now in the G5 ranks?

[Goldendawg]

Leach recruited to his system and it worked but outside of his system, it?s straight trash. Arnett couldn?t recruit either and it showed. How many signees are now in the G5 ranks?

Big time fan and friend said years ago that when Leach left it would take 5 years to rebuild to a different system due to this. Surely Lebby can rebound quicker with the portal (if said portalm players will stay more than one year if eligibility is available). Number of Leach/Arnett players no longer on the team tells the tale. As per the portal, several have not found landing spots at any program at any level.

[Cooterpoot]

I think it takes 3 years to get us to good footing. We'll see flashes this year. Next year should get us to fighting for 6/7 wins, then year three we break out. That's my expectations but I'm just glad we've hired a good offensive coach who understands recruiting and the portal. Goodbye 3 yard dump offs, terrible evaluations, and dumbassery in recruiting!

[maroonmania]

Big time fan and friend said years ago that when Leach left it would take 5 years to rebuild to a different system due to this. Surely Lebby can rebound quicker with the portal (if said portalm players will stay more than one year if eligibility is available). Number of Leach/Arnett players no longer on the team tells the tale. As per the portal, several have not found landing spots at any program at any level.

Old school thinking. In these days of the transfer portal with immediate eligibility you can totally flip a roster in 2 years time. By the 2025 season we will know if Lebby has what it takes to make us competitive in the SEC.

[bulldawg28]

If we create a tough home field advantage this team will be hard to beat in Starkville.

[MoreCowbell]

They have us with 3 TE players. They have OM with 22 players, please.

You are right, I missed that 3rd tight end. It is not saying Ole Miss will have 22 players drafted just that they have 22 players in the top 840 which I can see as likely considering their portal haul. We had 11 last year.

[MoreCowbell]

This list and others like it discount players coming off down years, transfers, or low PT players. It also excludes most underclassmen. That is pretty much all of our players.

Assuming they update and expand this list, I expect to see players like Kelly A, Ethan Miner, Jayden Walley (if healthy), Montrell Miller jump into the top 1000 by mid season. They may not all be drafted but hard to imagine they are not at least deep cut UDFA prospects.

It counts transfers. It counts every player on our and every other D1 teams roster. We are lacking in talent. We may have some young studs but until they prove anything we are very far behind many other programs and last in the SEC.

I just remember seeing a lot of people predicting 6-7-8 wins after the spring game and I did not see anything in that game that made me think we were on the cusp of being a good football team again and this list just jumped out to me and reaffirmed that we will likely suck and we are looking at a significant rebuild.

I am all in on Lebby but a lot of fans, especially ones on this message board need to pump the brakes on winning anything this year because they will get a reality check I am afraid. I just want to see steady progress regardless of wins and losses. It will take a couple of years to build back to where we want to be. We will be at a huge disadvantage talent wise this year, it is just reality.

[MoreCowbell]

If we create a tough home field advantage this team will be hard to beat in Starkville.

Not likely but I hope I am wrong

[Walkerhill]

It counts transfers. It counts every player on our and every other D1 teams roster. We are lacking in talent. We may have some young studs but until they prove anything we are very far behind many other programs and last in the SEC.

I just remember seeing a lot of people predicting 6-7-8 wins after the spring game and I did not see anything in that game that made me think we were on the cusp of being a good football team again and this list just jumped out to me and reaffirmed that we will likely suck and we are looking at a significant rebuild.

I am all in on Lebby but a lot of fans, especially ones on this message board need to pump the brakes on winning anything this year because they will get a reality check I am afraid. I just want to see steady progress regardless of wins and losses. It will take a couple of years to build back to where we want to be. We will be at a huge disadvantage talent wise this year, it is just reality.

I didn?t say it excluded transfers, but that they were discounted in some cases. Maybe especially transfers from nonP4.

But agree with your main point. There will be a talent disadvantage (moreso than typical) at least this year.

Arkansas and UF both have 10+ on that list. A&M has 30. Mizzou only had 6 which was unexpectedly low.

To get to 6 wins we have to have that ASU game and then to find 2 home wins we will need a couple of good days, probably at home. Maybe Petrino or Sun Belt Billy have blown up their locker rooms by then. Six is a stretch goal, not a likelihood.