S Peters Announces His Decision to Enter the NFL Draft

After winning Mississippi State's Defensive Player of the Game award in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, safety Fred Peters is looking to continue his career as a professional.

The senior blatantly stated that he would not be returning during Tuesday's press conference and made the news official on Thursday afternoon via Twitter. Peters has been a standout on the Bulldogs defense all season but has the perfect opportunity to look towards the future.

Peters spent his freshman and sophomore seasons at Jones County Community College. While there he accounted for 115 tackles, seven tackles-for-losses and three pass breakups. He was also able to force turnovers in a way that made it look easy-- Peters caught three interceptions and forced two fumbles during his two years with the program.

Coming out of junior college, Peters was one of the most sought-after defenders in the south. Rivals listed him as a four-star prospect, while 247Sports named him the No. 4 overall JUCO safety and No. 5 JUCO recruit in the state of Mississippi. Peters also picked up many accolades for the work he did at his smaller school, including the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior College South Division Most-Valuable Defensive Back and the All-MACJC South Division first-team.

Once joining the large SEC program, Peters had his work cut out for him. As expected, he was able to keep up juts fine. His 2019 junior season was sort of a learning year for Peters, and although he played in all 13 games, he totaled 10 tackles, three tackles-for-losses, and one interception. He made his first career start in 2020, along with many newer members of the squad, and finished the year with four starts. After his second year with a the team, he had not made significant improvements. Peters added 20 tackles, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.

Peters improved by leaps and bounds between the 2020 and 2021 seasons.