Mississippi State Football: 5 Signees Who Could Play a Huge Role in 2013

The world of college football is now a 365-days-a-year, 24-hours-a-day business. A game that use to be constricted to just the months between September and January is now under a microscope every day of the year from games to recruiting and beyond. 

Mississippi State head football coach Dan Mullen is now staring at football season number five in Starkville after three consecutive winning seasons and three straight bowl bids. 

The road to bowl number four looks to be quite a bit harder than the previous year with trips on the road to play Oklahoma State, South Carolina and Texas A&M. Not to mention the home slate with the likes of Alabama, LSU and Ole Miss. It is never easy sledding in the SEC but Mullen has now quietly put together two top 25 recruiting classes in recent years and is building depth that has not been seen in quite some time in Starkville. 

The Bulldogs return a fifth year senior at quarterback, a senior running back and many more talented players, but today we look at five true freshman from the Bulldogs' most recent class who could play a huge role for the Bulldogs in 2013.

Every since the departure of former Bulldog and current Baltimore Raven Pernell McPhee, the Bulldogs have lacked a presence on defense in the form of a pass rush. 

This was never more evident than the final five games of the 2012 season as the Bulldogs garnered little to no pressure on opposing quarterbacks, which helped contribute to a 1-5 finish. 

The Bulldogs have JUCO transfer Denico Autry and next year senior with a year now under his belt in the SEC playing on one end of the defense. Jones will line up opposite of Autry from day one, and his presence should take pressure off Autry, giving the Bulldogs two very good pass rushers. 

Jones' combination of size and speed and nose for the football is rare, and he's proved in several all star classics that he is ready to step up and play with the best. You can check out Jones' full profile via Scout.com right here. 

The Bulldogs lost three senior receivers—Chad Bumphis, Arceto Clark and Chris Smith—due to graduation, and one of the most immediate needs was to get more wide receivers to help out senior quarterback Tyler Russell. 

The Bulldogs have several underclassmen on campus that look to give Russell help but more bodies and quality bodies at the receiver position was a top priority for Dan Mullen in this recruiting class. 

Mullen answered the call by signing six wide receivers to this class giving the Bulldogs one of the top classes of wide outs for the 2013 recruiting season. 

Junior college transfer Jeremy Chapelle will get first dibs on catching Russell's passes due to being a January enrollee. Chapelle brings a bigger frame than most of the Bulldogs he will be replacing.

At 6'3", 212-pounds, Chapelle brings speed and size that is needed in the SEC. Chapelle will get the luxury of spring practice and a fall camp to get acclimated with Tyler Russell, and that is big for the Bulldog offense moving forward.

You can check out Jeremy's full profile right here.  

Over the years Mississippi State has seen its fair share of recruits flip to other teams right before national signing day. 

This year however, the Bulldogs did a little flipping of their own as the Bulldogs convinced former Oklahoma State commit and four-star receiver Fred Ross to come play in Starkville. 

Ross is another long, lanky receiver with good speed and football savvy who can come in and provide immediate help to the Bulldogs' offense. Ross' scholarship offers ranged far and wide but his decision to come play for the Bulldogs has to give Tyler Russell a sigh of relief. 

Ross along with Chapelle and four other wide receivers give the Bulldogs a lot of young talent to chose from when thinking about how to attack defenses via the passing game. 

You can check out Fred's full profile here. 

With the departure of three seniors in the secondary, the Bulldogs were in need of immediate help to replace the likes of John Banks, Corey Broomfield and Darius Slay. 

Enter January enrollee and junior college star Justin Cox. Cox, who is from just up the road from Starkville via West Point, MS, signed out of high school with the Bulldogs but had to take the JUCO route. Now, Cox is back with the team he signed with out of high school and should make an immediate impact for the Bulldogs at the safety position. 

Cox will line up across from senior Nickoe Whitley, and the two should give the Bulldogs two safeties that are athletic and love to initiate contact. Cox can cover and help in run support and this bodes well for a Bulldog defense looking to replace playmakers. 

You can check out Justin's full profile here. 

Mississippi State's backfield returns all four running backs who saw action last year led by senior to be LaDarius Perkins. 

Between Perkins, Nick Griffin, Josh Robinson and Derrick Milton—the Bulldogs saw again positive results in the running game in 2012. The one thing the Bulldogs lacked from prior years is a bruising back like former players Anthony Dixon and Vick Ballard who are both now in the NFL. 

Ashton Shumpert, who is expected to help out immediately, brings that big frame you see from a lot of SEC backs at 6'2", and  212 pounds. Yes, Perkins will get the nod as the senior and proven starter but do not be surprised to see Shumpert play early and even often especially in short yardage and goal-line situations. 

Dan Mullen likes power football, and Shumpert will give the Bulldogs an opportunity to get back to some of that in 2013.

You can check out Ashton's full profile here. 

Several other programs throughout the SEC made splashes on signing day but what Mullen has been able to do since his time in Starkville has been a breath of fresh air for Bulldogs' fans.

Since his time in Starkville, he has an average recruiting ranking of 26, according to  Scout.com. 

Mullen lives by player evaluation and player development with the team goal in mind. 

There are several other players who could see playing time from the 2013 class but these five players should make an immediate impact in 2013, and that will go a long way to bowl number four under the Mullen's watch in Starkville.