40 in 40: How a former Aggie can help fix Mississippi State's pass rush woes

One more week, folks. That’s all that is left.

At this time seven days from now, Mississippi State will be kicking off its 2025 season against Southern Miss.

In seven days we’ll start to learn how many of the offseason changes are successful and how much improvement the Bulldogs have made in the nine months since they lost to Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl game.

As for this series looking at the 40 Most Important Bulldogs, we’ve covered every projected starter except one and, yes, that one is a very obvious one. So, now we’re into territory of identifying important backups or key rotational players.

And that official depth chart that will come out in the next couple of days will certainly help make some of these final decisions easier. One player we didn’t need help in identifying is today’s important Bulldog: Malick Sylla.

Who is Malick Sylla?

Sylla played high school football in Katy, Texas with current Mississippi State players Hunter Washington and Seth Davis. He was a 2022 Under Armour All-American and recorded 55 tackles, 17 TFLs, eight sacks, two forced fumbles and an interception and won a state championship in 2020.

Sylla signed with Texas A&M after high school and played in 12 games as a true freshman, most in a special teams role. He had five tackles and a sack that season.

In 2023, Sylla played in 13 games and made one start against Oklahoma State in the Texas Bowl.

What happened in 2024?

Like many players who decide to enter the transfer portal, Sylla saw his playing time decrease last season. He played in eight games and didn’t make any starts. His most productive game was against New Mexico State when he had five tackles, three TFLs and two sacks.

In 33 career games at Texas A&M, Sylla had 26 tackles, six TFLs and four sacks.

Why will he be important in 2025?

Nobody needs a reminder about how bad Mississippi State’s defense was last year, but not putting much pressure on opposing quarterbacks made the entire defense’s jobs a lot harder.

So, Mississippi State’s coaches made it a priority to improve the pass rush. They hired a new defensive ends coach, Vincent Dancy, and signed several players in the transfer portal who can provide a pass rush.

Sylla was one of those additions and will likely be one of the top two Jack linebackers (Branden Jennings being the other), a position that could also see them lineup as a hand-on-the-ground defensive end. He’ll be asked to get after quarterbacks.

The group of players who will be responsible for pass rushing will constantly be changing, so the Bulldogs won’t need a huge season from Sylla. Afterall, his two sacks in 2024 would’ve been second-most on the roster last season.

Mississippi State won’t need Sylla to set any records to be important. He’ll be important no matter what, but if the Bulldogs have more than 20 sacks this season, Sylla will be a reason why.

Previous 40 in 40 Coaches and Players:

Coaches

Jeff Lebby, Head Coach
Coleman Hutzler, Defensive Coordinator
Phil Loadholt, Offensive line coach

Players

Deonte Anderson, DL
Jaray Bledsoe, DL
Kedrick Bingley-Jones, DL
Canon Boone, OL
Davon Booth, RB
Fluff Bothwell, RB
DeAgo Brumfield, DB
Jamil Burroughs, DL
Kalvin Dinkins, DL
Antony Evans III, WR
Kyle Ferrie, K
Red Hibbler, DL
Branden Jennings, DL
Ricky Johnson, WR
Kelley Jones, DB
Luke Kromenhoek, QB
Brylan Lanier, DB
Jahron Manning, DB
Nic Mitchell, LB
Jordan Mosley, WR
Albert Reese IV, OL
Isaac Smith, S
Blake Steen, OL
Brenen Thompson, WR
Zakari Tillman, Edge
Seydou Traore, TE
Hunter Washington, DB

Will Whitson, DL
Ayden Williams, WR