Who will start on Mississippi State's new-look offensive line?

Mississippi State hired a new offensive line coach this offseason, who quickly went to work and brought in a bunch of new faces to improve the line.

Colorado Buffalos offensive guard Zack Owens (75) against the Arizona Wildcats at Arizona Stadium. Owens is one of the newest Bulldogs competing for a starting job. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

In less than 48 hours Mississippi State’s 2025 season will be underway as the Bulldogs are scheduled to start preseason practices Thursday.

Assistant coaches will be available today for some media sessions, which we’ll cover later. For now, we’ll continue the miniseries looking at the most intriguing positional battles.

Yesterday, we looked at the defensive line and who the potential starters could be when the Bulldogs face Southern Miss on Aug. 30. Today, we’re going to jump over to the other side of the line of scrimmage and look at upcoming position battles along the offensive line.

Offensive Line

Minnesota Vikings tackle Phil Loadholt (71) reacts prior to the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. Loadholt is Mississippi State's new offensive line coach. | Kim Klement-Imagn Images

This unit had some of the biggest turnover from last season to the upcoming one, most notably the hiring of former NFL lineman Phil Loadholt as the position’s coach and he wasted no time in reshaping it into his vision.

The Bulldogs added five offensive linemen during the spring transfer portal window and Thursday will be the first time the players are on the field together. And good luck trying to figure out who will the five starting jobs.

Here’s who will be in the offensive line room for Mississippi State this season:

Returning Players:

Albert Reese (6-7, 330)
Canon Boone (6-4, 315)
Luke Work (6-6, 315)
Wesley Davis (6-4, 300)
Alex Lopez (6-6, 295)
Jacoby Jackson (6-6, 320)
Jimothy Lewis (6-6, 320)
TJ Lockhart (6-5, 360)

New Players:

Koby Keenum (6-4, 305 – Kentucky)
Zack Owens (6-6, 340 – Colorado)
Brennan Smith (6-3, 320 – Austin Peay)
Blake Steen (6-6, 340 – Virginia)
Jakheem Shumpert (6-5, 330 – Northwest Mississippi CC)
Matthew Lefeau (6-5, 350 – Shasta College)
Trevor Mayberry (6-3, 325 – Stanford)
Spencer Dowland (6-6, 300 – High School)
Breyden Turnage (6-7, 320 – High School)
Saquon Miles (6-5, 320 – Hinds CC)
Jaekwon Bouldin (6-6, 340 – Purdue)
Jayvin James (6-5, 320 – Akron)

Reese and Work saw significant playing time last year. Reese was the Kent Hull Trophy winner that’s given to the best college offensive lineman in Mississippi. Work was a true freshman last season that got put into the starting lineup because of injuries. Boone, Davis and Lewis all saw limited playing time last season.

Of the returning players, Reese and Work are the two most likely candidates to earn starting jobs this season.

It’d be a huge surprise if none of the new players, though, didn’t earn a starting job against Southern Miss. Steen is a favorite to land one of the tackle spots after giving up just two sacks last season at Virginia. Keenum has SEC experience, but not a lot, and Boone followed Loadholt from Colorado to Mississippi State. Keenum will likely be competing at center where him and Brennan Smith have experience playing at.

Of the junior college transfers, Miles was the top-rated offensive lineman and will be in the running for a start position.

On paper, the offensive line looks like it’ll be better. It’ll certainly be bigger. But there’s a lot of coordination and communication that goes on between offensive linemen and that takes time to build Will 29 days be enough to work out the kinks on a practice field?