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Mississippi State WR Trending Toward Draft Pick in Latest NFL Mock

Mississippi State wide receiver Brenen Thompson appears in ESPN’s latest mock draft after showcasing elite speed at the combine.
Taylor Hodges|
Mississippi State wideout Brenen Thompson (WO39) during the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Mississippi State wideout Brenen Thompson (WO39) during the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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Mississippi State Bulldogs

The NFL Draft is under a month away, so we’re right in the thick of mock draft season.

This is when the big-name analysts start dropping their weekly projections, and once you get past the first handful of picks, most of it turns into informed guesswork.

That’s kind of the point, though. Mock drafts aren’t meant to be taken as truth.

They’re meant to be entertaining. They give fans a way to imagine different scenarios, think through team needs, and see which prospects might start gaining traction.

Most mocks stop after the first round. A few push into Day 2. Going all seven rounds is pretty uncommon, and even when someone does it, the goal isn’t to nail a late-round pick in the 200s.

It’s more about identifying which fringe players are climbing into draft range at all.

So if you’re checking out ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller’s latest seven-round mock, keep that perspective.

Yes, it’s fun to scroll down and see what your team does with that random late pick you barely remember. But it’s just as useful for figuring out which former Bulldogs are hovering on the edge between getting drafted and going undrafted.

For Mississippi State fans, that number is one.

Wide receiver Brenen Thompson was the lone Bulldog to land a spot in Miller’s mock draft.

It shouldn’t be too surprising to see only Thompson included the mock draft. In one season in Starkville, he set a new single-season receiving yards record and showcased elite speed. It’s the type of speed NFL teams will draft just to see what they can do with it.

Thompson was at the recent Mississippi State Pro Day with 18 other former Bulldogs. For him the day could’ve been better but it was good enough to keep him in the real of drafted players.

“I thought I did okay,” Thompson said after his workouts. “I thought I did really good on my punt session, I didn't drop any. Could have been a little cleaner in my route session. That's part of it, you want some routes back. I thought I caught the ball very well. Overall, I think I did good.”

Before the pro day, Thompson participated in the NFL Scouting Combine where he solidified his status as one of the fastest players in the draft with a 4.26-second time. Like any good athlete, that didn’t satisfy him.

“I was a little disappointed. All my times in training were going faster than that,” Thompson said. “Those training with me and around me know that. I think it was fast in a lot of people's eyes, but for me it was another day in the office.”

At one NFL team is going to give Thompson a new office to go to work in when he hears his name called during the upcoming NFL Draft on April 23-26 in Pittsburgh.

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Taylor Hodges
TAYLOR HODGES

Award-winning sports editor, writer, columnist, and photographer with 15 years’ experience offering his opinion and insight about the sports world in Mississippi and Texas, but he was taken to Razorback pep rallies at Billy Bob's Texas in Fort Worth before he could walk. Taylor has covered all levels of sports, from small high schools in the Mississippi Delta to NFL games. Follow Taylor on Twitter and Facebook.

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