40 in 40: SEC tackles leader returns to lead an improved Mississippi State defense

Junior Isaac Smith was one of the most important Bulldogs during last season's 2-10 campaign and will be even more important for the Bulldogs in 2025.

Mississippi State Bulldogs safety Isaac Smith (2) against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Mountain America Stadium. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Mississippi State had just one player named to the preseason All-SEC team at last week’s SEC Media Days, safety Isaac Smith.

As a sophomore last season, Smith led the SEC in tackles from his safety position. Smith was a no-brainer to be the Bulldogs’ lone representative on the preseason teams and it’s a no-brainer that he’s important to the team this season.

ICYMI: Smith confident in Bulldogs improvement ahead of 2025 season

While Smith’s inclusion on the All-SEC teams was based on his production last season (and some projecting he’ll have a similar 2025 season), his inclusion on this list is based on more than just that.

Smith, who was one of three Bulldogs to travel with coach Jeff Lebby to SEC Media Days, is undoubtedly a leader on defense.

“To me there's no greater spokesperson for our locker room or our defense than Isaac Smith,” Lebby said at SEC Media Days. “When you think about the game of football, loving football, that is Isaac. This guy loves to play the game. He's incredibly physical. He's been a great leader for us. Proud of him and who he's been, excited about the year that he has the ability to go have.”

Who is Isaac Smith?

Smith is entering his third season in Starkville (which in today’s world of college sports actually means something) after playing high school football at Itawamba Agricultural High School in Mississippi. He was a 2023 Under Armor All-American and was the No. 3 overall player in Mississippi coming out of high school.

As a true freshman at Mississippi State in 2023, Smith played in 12 games and made 15 tackles. He was one of two true freshmen to play in every game that season and still be with the team headed into the 2025 season (the other being kicker Kyle Ferrie).

What happened in 2024?

If you ignore the 2-10 overall record, last season was a great one for Smith. He ended the season with 127 total tackles and his 11.5 tackles per game was fourth best in the nation. He also had 1.5 tackles for a loss, three pass breakups and a forced fumble. His 127 tackles led the SEC and was seventh-most in the nation (and two more than linebacker Stone Blanton had).

Mississippi State’s defense ended the season ranked in the bottom 10 of most team defensive statistics and it’s not hard to imagine those rankings being even lower without Smith.

Why is he important in 2025?

Sure, a lot of the reasons why Smith is important is because on on-the-field stuff. Afterall, he’s the highest-rated defender for Mississippi State in the EA College Football video game.

But, as Lebby said at SEC Media Days, Smith is a leader of a defense that hopes to have improved in the offseason.

“Last year, I feel like a lot of the criticism got put on our coaches,” Smith said at SEC Media Days. “But I always tell, like the guys, the coaches can't go out there and play for us. It's up to us to go execute and make the plays. That's what we didn't do last year… Maybe this year we'll be on the other side of things instead of going home sad and mad that we lost close games that we should have been winning.”

Whatever success Mississippi State has, Smith will be a major contributor, even if he’s not leading the nation in tackles as a safety.