After some high profile decommitments over the past few weeks, Dan Mullen’s 2011 recruiting class slipped to 42nd in the Rivals.comclass rankings and 43rd on Scout.com. Despite the loss of prospects such as Philadelphia’s C.J. Johnson and South Panola’s Nickolas Brassell (both signed with Ole Miss), Mullen was excited about this year’s class. 
“I don’t put a whole lot of weight into any of the rankings; I put in to making sure we’re getting players that we know we can develop,” Mullen said. “The stars don’t stay with you when you get here.”
Once again, Mullen made recruiting talent within the state of Mississippi a priority with 15 of the 22 signees from Mississippi. That number is more than Ole Miss and Southern Miss combined.
Mullen also touted the progress of his first two recruiting classes, pointing out that 48 of the 53 players from the 2009 and ’10 classes are still with the program.
“If you look at that percentage for us, it’s making sure that you’re finding the players that fit our program and fit what we’re looking for and give us the ability to develop them.”
While MSU’s first two recruiting classes under Mullen were heavy on skill position players, the ’11 class looks to add depth to both the offensive and defensive lines.
The position breakdown of the class lists five offensive linemen and three defensive. With schemes that call for heavy rotation of the defensive line, Mullen says he is always looking to add more depth in the trenches.
“You’re always looking for them,” Mullen said. “If we’re ever going to be heavy at a position it’s going to be on the offensive line or the defensive line.”
Mullen also signed five defensive backs, headlined by South Panola’s Kendrick Market, a three-star prospect. When Mullen spoke with high school coaches, he came to a consensus that he had the top four defensive backs in the state with signees Dee Arrington, Zachary Johnson, Justin Cox and Market.
With a stable of young receivers from his first two recruiting classes, Mullen only signed two receivers in this year’s class: Joe Morrow (Ocean Springs) and Devin Fosselman (Wilkinson County).
The 2011 class has two players joining the team from the junior college ranks. One of which, running back Darius Slay, signed with MSU in 2009 but went to Itawamba Community College to meet eligibility requirements. The other JUCO signee is offensive lineman Joey Trapp, who enrolled in January.
“Every junior college player that we’ve signed in the last two years has come in and contributed to the program, and that’s critical when you recruit those guys,” Mullen said.
With the highly publicized defection of some of Mississippi’s most coveted recruits, Mullen said he only considers a player “committed” if he is not visiting other schools. When asked what a better term might be for what the media views as a commitment, he offered “reservation.”
“Some kids are committed and that makes it tough,” Mullen said. “Recruiting has taken on a life of its own in the perception of it as opposed to the reality of the situation. I think that’s kind of where things change.”
At the same time Mullen was discussing his signing class with the media in Starkville, Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt was having his press conference in Oxford. Nutt was proud of the nucleus of Mississippi players in his recruiting class and emphasized the talent from within the Magnolia State.
Mullen has made recruiting the top talent in the state a battle cry ever since he arrived in Starkville, but when asked, he was not worried about how Nutt felt regarding his crop of Mississippi talent.
“Good. That’s good. I thought we did pretty well too,” Mullen said. “I guess we’ll find out next Thanksgiving. Just like the last two Thanksgivings.”
With all of the media coverage and instant rankings judging recruiting classes before the fax machine has even had a chance to cool down, Mullen also had the most truthful comment of the day.
“I have no idea how good a recruiting class this is,” Mullen said. “I’ll tell you that in a couple years.”