The new-look offensive line will come together in the spring

The 2024 Maroon and White Spring Game is this weekend for Mississippi State football. For Bulldog fans, it's the first opportunity to get a look at what the 2024 team will look like under first-year head coach Jeff Lebby.

We take a look at the Bulldogs by looking at each position group on the team during spring training. In our last installment, we broke down the tight end room. Today we wrap up the offense by looking at the big uglies up front, the offensive line.

State's offensive line had a rough patch in 2023. It was a fairly experienced unit, but the group needed to make a massive transition away from air attack and towards a professional system. One could argue that the change in offensive philosophy has had a greater impact on the line than any other position.

That change was not well received, and now Jeff Lebby and new OL coach Cody Kennedy are working to make OL a strength in Starkville again. They'll have to implement a lot of new concepts and put together several new faces, but Lebby's system is much more lineman-friendly than the previous offense.

Let's take a look at the spring OL room…

In 2023, State struggled with the lead and then with several starters from the group. In the modern era of college football, there's a pretty simple answer to address both of these problems: raid the portal. That's exactly what State did by signing four transfer offensive lineman, and there's a good chance all four of those guys will start in 2024.

Ethan Miner comes from North Texas, where he played in an offense that has some similarities to what State will do under Lebby. He was the top-rated center prospect in the portal and reunites with his UNT OL coach Jon Cooper, who now coaches TEs at State. State added another lineman from Lonestar State in guard Jacoby Jackson from Texas Tech. He also previously worked in a wide-open spread system and effectively started multiple games for the Red Raiders.

Makylan Pounders is a familiar name to State fans. He was a one-time MSU commit who unfortunately got caught in the middle of the rivals' dubious Egg Bowl recruiting drama and ended up in Memphis. Pounders developed into a fantastic tackle with the Tigers, and now his talents are finally on display in Starkville, where he will almost certainly be the Bulldogs' left tackle.

Finally, Marlon Martinez enters the OL room after spending the last few years as a swing lineman for LSU. He saw several stars on the interior for the Bayou Bengals and will likely compete for the guard spot opposite Jacoby Jackson.

Although attention is focused on the portal, State still has a strong opportunity to compete for the starting positions. Albert Reese IV begins his fourth season in Starkville. The 6-foot-1, 320-pound Canadian has seen plenty of reps over the last two seasons and should be ready to take on a starting role, most likely at right tackle.

Leon Bell played in the first four games of the 2023 season as a JUCO transfer before sitting out the remainder of the year as a redshirt. Bell made good use of the opportunities he was given and should factor into the main rotation. Canon Boone is another lineman who has been with the program for several years now, having been a promising recruit out of high school who should also compete for a larger role in 2024.

Mississippi State needed to reload and revamp the OL for 2024, and it appears Jeff Lebby and Cody Kennedy did a good job of doing that. Every portal newcomer was a quality player with good transfer options. And while there isn't a lot of experience returning to the squad, there are still promising pieces.

For me it's just about putting these pieces together. Obviously you're dealing with several new faces working together for the first time while learning a new system. There may be some loss of speed at the beginning as you get used to it. But overall, the outlook for the Bulldog OL seems positive.