Bobcat football brings in new blood

March is about as far away from football season as you can get. As of Feb. 29, MSU hasn’t played a game in 89 days and won’t start the 2024 regular season for another 179. But don’t get lulled into thinking that the ‘Cats are sitting idly by. A flurry of recent roster activity has been unfolding in the past few weeks, activity that will ultimately shape the look of the next Bobcat football team. 

Recruiting high school prospects and transfer students may be the most important piece of a college football team’s offseason. The moves made during this period can not only determine the team’s immediate outlook, but also how the team will be structured and managed years down the road. 

The NCAA transfer portal is the official avenue through which student-athletes can transfer between institutions. The use and compliance with the transfer portal and its rules is meant to ensure fairness and continuity of eligibility. Players typically have four seasons of eligibility. There are two periods, one in winter and one in spring, during which players can enter the portal. Coaches can only contact and recruit players at other institutions when they have officially entered the portal.

Arguably, the most interesting bits of restructuring for MSU came on the lines — both on the offensive and defensive sides. Interestingly enough, all but one of the transfer players snagged by MSU was a lineman. 

The Bobcat running game was spectacular in 2023, in fact, it was perhaps the key to their offensive identity. The offensive line’s ability to create holes for ball carriers was instrumental to a MSU offense that was top three in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) in rushing touchdowns, yards per attempt and yards per game. 

Rush Reimer, an Associated Press FCS second-team All-American, has departed and will play his final year at the University of California. Reimer was an important part of the offensive line. A candidate to fill his spot comes in the form of Dylan Rollins. 

Rollins comes to MSU after a season at Brigham Young University. As a high schooler, he was 247 Sports’ top-ranked prospect in Montana for the 2021 recruiting class. His father, Josh, and older brother, Byron, both played at MSU.

The defensive line was also fantastic in 2023. MSU led the FCS with 3.42 sacks a game as a result of a lineman unit that found ways to control the game from the defensive side of play. Sebastian Valdez is a defensive tackle who made significant contributions in the form of five sacks and eight tackles for a loss, both marks good enough to be top three for the ‘Cats. He announced his commitment to the University of Washington — the runner-up in the most recent College Football Playoff. Finding ways to replace Valdez’s production will be a challenge.

Depth at the quarterback position poses a question mark for the ‘Cats heading into the next campaign. All-Conference second-team selection “Touchdown” Tommy Mellott is returning for his fourth season, but the absence of Sean Chambers is sure to be felt. More than a back-up, Chambers served as a sort of co-quarterback with Mellott, but his time playing college football has drawn to a close. 

Mellott has battled injuries in the past — he missed three games last year and two the year before. When healthy, he is a top-tier FCS signal-caller, but should he go down, expecting the second-string to produce at the same level as Chambers is unrealistic. 

Quarterback Jordan Reed is returning, and he seems to be in line to backup Mellott this year. In a limited sample size of the on-field action he saw last year, Reed was perfectly serviceable, putting up around seven yards per passing attempt and a 53.33% completion rate. Other than Reed, the players rounding out the quarterback room — Chance Wilson and Patrick Duchein — haven’t seen enough playing time to merit much analysis, although they are sure to provide value to the team wherever they might place on the depth chart. 

It certainly seems as though competition on the depth chart at the quarterback will be intense once Mellott moves on, a competition sure to be made even more intense by the addition of high-school signee Daveon Superales. Superales will join the team this fall and is ranked as a three-star prospect by 247 Sports. Superales is an impressive prospect, whose tape displays a great deep ball and quick-decision making abilities. 

However, his rushing statistics are notably weaker than the prototypical type of dual-threat quarterback MSU has been known to trot out thus far into the 2020s. For example, the 497 rushing yards he accumulated in his senior season is only roughly 40% of the number that Mellott put up during his senior season of high school. Watching how Superales develops and fits in with the Bobcat offense will be interesting.

The wide receiver position is well-represented in the 2024 recruiting class with the ‘Cats adding four this cycle. Defensive backs were the most-targeted position, with the ‘Cats signing six high-school players at that position. 

MSU featured a strong running back core in 2023, and many key contributors will be returning. Out of the five-backs with the most yards, four of them will be returning. Only Garrett Coon has entered the transfer portal, presumably with the intention to move on from MSU. 

It’s certainly been a busy winter for Bobcat football. The team that takes the field against the University of New Mexico for this year’s season opener will ultimately have a different look from last year’s squad.