Thursday’s Dawg Biscuits: Updates on 2025 prospects Tyler Miller, Tyler Lockhart and Austin Howard

Step inside for the latest on several 2025 and 2026 prospects on Mississippi State’s radar in football along with team news:

First Biscuit – Starting the day with team news, earlier this week I talked to a few sources regarding Mississippi State’s running back depth chart entering training camp. As you may recall, head coach Jeff Lebby gave a lot of compliments to Keyvone Lee throughout spring practice and per other sources, I expect Lee and former Utah State transfer Davon Booth to battle it out as the main running back in the rotation when camp opens. Yes, sources definitely believe former Utah State transfer Davon Booth will factor into that position in a major way, as Lebby mentioned on Wednesday. Sources also expects Johnnie Daniels and Jeffery Pittman to battle for a rotation spot and Lebby does like to use several backs in his system. As Lebby reported yesterday and to no surprise, Seth Davis is out for the season and he was going to redshirt regardless in 2024. It will also be interesting to see how freshman Xavier Gayten and his speed factor into State’s running back room this fall.

Second Biscuit – Moving to football recruiting, on Wednesday I exchanged messages with 2026 safety and On3 four-star prospect Bralan Womack of Hartfield Academy, who already holds numerous offers from all over the country. Womack continues to talk up Mississippi State and the way they are recruiting him, and Womack said he will be at Mississippi State this fall for games (already visited a couple of times in the spring). He noted he may be visiting Texas and Texas A&M later this month and he has also mentioned recently that he will cut his list of options down to a Top 10 in the near future. Long ways to go with Womack but State’s new staff has gotten off to the right foot with Womack and his family. Notre Dame and Ohio State will also be consistent factors with Womack throughout his recruiting process.

Third Biscuit – Staying with the Class of 2026 a minute longer, on Wednesday I talked with 2026 receiver Zayion Cotton of Grenada High School. He collected offers from Mississippi State and Ole Miss during his sophomore season and he helped lead Grenada to the school’s first-ever championship game in football last December. Cotton also said Missouri and Vanderbilt are starting to show interest lately. Cotton said he camped at Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Jackson State this summer and he also plans to attend games at State and Ole Miss this fall. Cotton noted that he always feels welcomed when he’s around head coach Jeff Lebby and receivers coach Chad Bumphis, and Cotton said he plans to be at State’s cookout event next week at Lebby’s house. Cotton noted that he doesn’t have any favorites right now and is just going with the flow in recruiting.

Fourth Biscuit – On Wednesday, I talked to a source close with 2025 linebacker and On3 four-star prospect Tyler Lockhart of Winona High School and not much has changed from our last update on the former Auburn commitment. Lockhart is expected to be back in Starkville next Thursday for the recruiting gathering at Jeff Lebby’s house, which will feature a mixture of State’s top targets in the Class of 2025 and the Class of 2026. Lockhart officially visited Ole Miss, Auburn and Mississippi State in June and he told me then that State would likely be his final official visit. Lockhart has also told me recently that he wants to have his recruiting process finished before he begins his senior year at Winona and as said before, that is something that bears watching next week when he visits State again.

Fifth Biscuit – Also on Wednesday, I did some checking on 2025 LSU commit and On3 four-star offensive tackle prospect Tyler Miller of Laurel High School. Miller took official visits in June to Ole Miss, LSU and Mississippi State and so far, he has not mentioned any other official visits for the fall. Per one source, State did gain some ground on Miller during his official visit to Starkville but obviously, it will still be a challenge to flip Miller from LSU. State is hoping to get Miller back on campus this season for games and I expect that to happen. With two offensive linemen (Mario Nash and Josiah Clemons) already in State’s Class of 2025, the Bulldogs want to add one more high school offensive linemen to that group and also find another lineman in the transfer portal. For now, Miller and former Auburn commitment Carde Smith remain as State’s top targets on the offensive line.

And for the gravy on top – And lastly on Wednesday, I talked to 2025 Mississippi State commitment and On3 three-star linebacker prospect Austin Howard of Bartlett (Tenn.) High School. Howard will also be back in Starkville next week for the cookout event and he said his teammate and fellow State commit Geron Johnson will be with him, as well. Howard and his teammates have already started preseason practices and he expects to be back at mike linebacker this season while also coming off the edge now and then. Howard noted that since his commitment, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and Tulane have continued to recruit him and want him to visit their campuses in the fall. Howard said he remains confident about his Bulldog decision and feels good about his future with defensive coordinator Coleman Hutzler.

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