Mississippi State Football’s 2025 Recruiting Class Ranking Soars After Fresh Commits

Mississippi State’s college football team recently doubled their number of recruits for the 2025 class within just two days. After a weekend of official visits last month, coach Jeff Lebby signed six new players, which puts the team now at ten players. Prior to the new recruits, the Bulldogs didn’t rank within the top 70 classes in the country, but they now stand at No. 42, according to 247Sports.

6-2 185-pound Derrion Horsley, a cornerback from Sharpsburg, Georgia, is a three-star prospect who pledged to the Bulldogs a couple of weeks after they offered him a spot. Last season, Horsley achieved 13 pass breakups, 38 tackles, and a single interception. Not long after, Stephen Miller, another three-star prospect from Greensboro, also committed to the Bulldogs. He’s an impressive 6-1.5 180-pound safety strong on both the offense and defense. Defensively, Miller recorded five interceptions and thirteen tackles, whereas he also recorded 1,406 yards of all-purpose yards on the offense.

Offensive tackle Josiah Clemons from Clinton, Mississippi was the third new prospect to commit over the weekend. He’s rated the No. 83 offensive tackle in the country and Mississippi’s No. 20 prospect by On3. “Before the weekend visit started I had a good idea of what was going to happen,” said Clemons. “I knew I wanted to do it then. I had a few more questions that I wanted answered. Once I got them answered, there was nothing left to do but commit to Mississippi State.”

Clemons also said he’s excited to join the team. “It is an up-tempo offense and I like it. I am used to that offense in high school so I should transition to it really well”, he said. Currently, MSU is coming off a 5-7 season, and the next season will be the first under Lebby. Notably, by the close of the 2024 recruiting cycle, Lebby had put together a strong team despite being on a shorter than usual deadline. The Bulldogs were then ranked as the No. 26 incoming class in the nation by On3. Previously, Lebby’s offensive teams have finished within the top six in the U.S. as many as three times across the past five seasons. So, he certainly has the skill and potential to take the Bulldogs to new heights on the field.

Three-star safety Sekou Smith Jr. was the team’s next addition, shortly followed by linebacker LaKendrick James. James is an unrated JUCO player graduating from Copiah-Lincoln Community College. The sixth and final new pledge was Christopher Johnson from Alabama.  The 6-3 255-pound defensive lineman is an in-demand prospect as he has sixteen offers in total from school’s, including West Virginia, Memphis, and Vanderbilt.

Coach Lebby has a knack for bringing in talented players, and the 2025 class looks to be no exception. Under Lebby, the Bulldogs will undoubtedly be off to a strong start next year.