My son asked who is the best football player of all time from Mississippi State in the NFL?

[She Mate Me]

How can anyone argue against Slay?

He’s been top 5 at his position for his entire (healthy, playable) career

Cox is on his way to HOF
As is Jones

But IMO, Slay is already there, right?

Nope to all 3. The linemen may get there, but Slay is a no. Look at any of the HOF monitors on the average HOF DB and Slay is just not very close...

Pro Football DB Hall of Fame Monitor | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Pro Football DB Hall of Fame Monitor

www.pro-football-reference.com

 

[She Mate Me]

Did the Polish rifle ever play in the NFL?

Did he ever play at State?

 

[LexSCDOG]

Right now - is Fletcher Cox the answer?

Right now - is Fletcher Cox the answer?

If all time: Joe Fortunato

 

[mike tice]

My Top 11
Cox
Jones
Kent Hull
Slay
Simmons
DD Lewis
Dak
Michael Haddix
Smoot
Tom Goode
Logan Cook
Don Smith - is he the only one to ever score a TD in a Super Bowl ?

Probably have forgotten some that could have been in the Top 11

MIcheal Haddix was great at State. But NFL top 8 seems like a stretch

Our top NFL draft bust doing terribly is Philadelphia's 8th overall pick in the 1983 NFL Draft, Michael Haddix. While the former Mississippi State tailback had a below average career with the Eagles and Packers, his bust label comes from the simple fact that Philly passed on HOF QB, Dan Marino, for him! Crazy.


After his seven-year career, amassing less than 1,700 rushing yards, and the lowest YPC of any running back with over 500 carries, Haddix faded into obscurity. His son attempted a career in the NFL, but eventually suffered the same fate as his old man.


So, why is this guy doing terribly? Well, first off, you would think a multi-year NFL career would lead to a million-dollar retirement, but not Haddix! Let's not forget the family drama that went down in late 2017 when his nephew tried to murder his brother with an axe.

 

[Drebin]

Kirk Cousins is a more valuable football player than Cox. He's more important to his team than Cox is to the Eagles.

Is that not pretty obvious?

It's debatable at best.

A guy like in-his-prime Fletcher Cox, or Chris Jones, is so disruptive up front that a teams entire offensive game plan accounts for him. A guy like Slay can shut down half the football field. There's only a handful of QBs you can truly say stuff like that about, and Dak ain't one of them.

 

[POTUS]

Like it or not, Super Bowl rings matter in this discussion and Jones might end up with 3-5. I think that would make him our greatest pro ever. He's definitely on track for the Hall of Fame.

 

[tcdog70]

THE ONLY MSU RUNNING BACK TO GAIN 1000 YARDS IN A SEASON--HOYLE GRANGER WITH THE OILERS

 

[tcdog70]

JOE WAS A MONSTER OF THE MIDWAY--GREAT PLAYER

 

[She Mate Me]

It's debatable at best.

A guy like in-his-prime Fletcher Cox, or Chris Jones, is so disruptive up front that a teams entire offensive game plan accounts for him. A guy like Slay can shut down half the football field. There's only a handful of QBs you can truly say stuff like that about, and Dak ain't one of them.

I find this as ridiculous as you apparently find my argument. I don't know how to have a debate if you think a single great defender is more important than a single very good QB.

Would I rather have Dak and no Fletcher at State or Fletcher and no Dak? Dak every time.

 

[jackbaddawg]

DD Lewis- Eric Moulds -Dak

 

[scotchie42]

Joseph Francis Fortunato was born on March 28, 1930 and died on November 6, 2017. He was an American football linebacker in the National Football League.Fortunato played 12 seasons for the Chicago Bears (1955–1966). As a linebacker, he made the Pro Bowl five times and was named to the NFL 300 Greatest Players team. He wore #31 with the Chicago Bears. Fortunato played fullback and linebacker for Mississippi State University, and made All-American in 1951. He is a member of the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame and the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. Fortunato made his home in south Mississippi.He spent two seasons as a coach with the Chicago Bears; 1967 as linebackers coach and 1968 as defensive coordinator.Fortunato died on November 6, 2017

 

[She Mate Me]

Since this has kind of become a listing of Bulldogs with solid NFL careers, let's not forget 13 year veteran DB Steve Freeman...

Steve Freeman Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Checkout the latest stats for Steve Freeman. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, college, draft, and more on Pro-football-reference.com.

www.pro-football-reference.com

And KJ Wright very recently ended a much better career than many of the other names already mentioned.

 

[dawgoneyall]

Right now - is Fletcher Cox the answer?

Simmons

 

[Ranchdawg]

It’s Cox but Chris Jones will surpass him.

I agree, in fact if they considered Defensive players for the MVP Chris Jones might of won this years award. One of the talking heads about a week before the super bowl said KC would win simply because they had Chris Jones. He went on to say he may be the best player in the NFL right now. He had a monster season and may end up being our best of all time.

 

[dawgstudent]

I agree, in fact if they considered Defensive players for the MVP Chris Jones might of won this years award. One of the talking heads about a week before the super bowl said KC would win simply because they had Chris Jones. He went on to say he may be the best player in the NFL right now. He had a monster season and may end up being our best of all time.

Y'all think Hugh still calls and checks up on him?

 

[DawgInThe256]

You can't go wrong saying any of the 4 active defensive stars. Of retired players, I'd say Kent Hull. There are many insiders, including Jim Kelly, who say he should be in the Hall of Fame. That Bills offense was ahead of its time in terms of complexity, and he was responsible for all the OL assignments.

 

[Dawgtini]

DD Lewis and Walt Harris we're ballers in their day along with Hull.