It is a rarity a team has two first-team all-SEC defensive lineman, but it is even rarer for both those defensive lineman to return the next season.
The 2018 Mississippi State University football team gets this honor as they return junior Jeffrey Simmons and senior Montez Sweat, who led the SEC in sacks last season.
Many thought Sweat, from Stone Mountain, Georgia, would go into the NFL draft, but he decided to return to MSU for his senior year.
“It was a decision I made with my family to come back and get my degree in December and have a great season,” Sweat said. “I had a couple relationships I built on the team that I did not want to let go, too.”
MSU’s defensive line will be the strength of the defense heading into the season. Not only do they return their two stars, they return every defensive lineman who played last season. They also add four-star defensive end Chauncey Rivers, who many know from the second season of Last Chance U from Netflix. He redshirted last season.
Between Rivers, Simmons, Sweat and other standouts like Gerri Green, Braxton Hoyett, Marquiss Spencer, Cory Thomas, Kobe Jones and Fletcher Adams, MSU has the talent and depth to dominate the trenches on the defensive side of the ball.
The defensive line boasts five four-star and one five-star player. They also have the experience in seven juniors and six seniors on the defensive line, something head coach Joe Moorhead has noticed.
“We have a bunch of talent,” Moorhead said. “They stop the run, and rush the passer, they play with great intensity.”
MSU is also changing defensive formations this year. Last season under Todd Grantham, they ran a 3-4 base set defense with three down lineman. This season under Bob Shoop, they are running a 4-2-5 base set with four down lineman. Simmons, from Macon, said the defense takes advantage of all the talent they have up front.
“I think it fits the defensive line, especially the type of guys we got,” Simmons said. “It’s just get after the ball and just go.”
The success of the defensive line will go a long way toward the success of the defense as a whole. If the line is able to get pressure on the quarterback, it will cause more bad throws. Something safety Johnathan Abram, from Columbia, hopes to take advantage of.
“You haven’t even seen it all yet,” Abram said of the defensive line. “Come game time, quarterbacks are going to be throwing us cakes out there. It is going to be fun. Catch them like punts and if they don’t throw, the defensive line will knock them upside the head.”
Fans can get a look at MSU’s defensive line at the Maroon-White game on Super Bulldog Weekend. The game will kickoff at 3 p.m. April 21.
