100 Day Bulldog Countdown: 22 Days - No. 22, DT Kedrick Bingley-Jones and RB Xavier Gayten

Year two of the Jeff Lebby era has arrived and the Mississippi State coach is back to work.

After a disappointing first season, the coach and his staff are doing what they can to get things back on track in Starkville. The players on the field will be the difference for State this season if they are to make a return and we’re going to discuss every single one of them over the course of the next few months.

As we do every year, we’re counting down 100 days until State’s first game at Southern Miss in Hattiesburg on August 30. Over this period of time, we’ll breakdown every scholarship player on the roster, look back at great moments in MSU history and even talk about legends that have come before the current Bulldogs.

Today, we look at an electric young running back and a seasoned veteran on the defensive line.

22 Days: No. 22, Sr. Defensive Tackle Kedrick Bingley-Jones        

It hasn’t been the career that Bingley-Jones was hoping to have, but the experienced lineman can savor a strong finish if he stays healthy.

In high school, Bingley-Jones was one of the top defensive tackles nationally coming from Charlotte, NC. He played for Providence Day School and helped lead his team to the State Championship. During his senior season, Bingley-Jones had 60 tackles and 2.0 sacks as a sophomore and then followed that up with 78 tackles and 13.0 sacks in a monster junior season. As a senior, Bingley-Jones had 54 tackles, 7.0 sack, a forced fumble, blocked punt and fumble recovery. That season led to All-State honors for him for a second-straight season.

Offers were coming from all over for Bingley-Jones as he picked up Ohio State, Florida, Florida State, North Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi State, Michigan, Miami, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Tennessee, Texas A&M and a whole lot more. Bingley-Jones earned four stars by the recruiting services with the Composite Rankings having him No. 152 overall and the No. 15 defensive tackle as well as being tabbed the No. 6 player in North Carolina.

When the time came for Bingley-Jones to make a college decision in the summer prior to his senior year, he wanted to stay home and play for the Tar Heels of UNC. Injuries would plague Bingley-Jones from being able to reach his full potential. In 2020, he had to sit out, but he got back-to-back seasons with playing time in 11 of the team’s games.

During the 2021 and 2022 seasons, Bingley-Jones played in 22 games but had just six tackles. He managed two in 2023 with his first career sack, but wasn’t able to finish out the season as an injury ended things after four games.

Bingley-Jones hit the transfer portal after that offseason with the hopes of getting new life, but more frustrations came. After dealing with injuries, Bingley-Jones only got four games in again and had seven tackles with 1.0 TFL. He now enters one final season of college hoping to see it all come together with a fully healthy season. He will be playing on a defensive line that has much more depth this season and the competition is hot.

No. 22, So. Running Back Xavier Gayten

There is an extremely crowded running back room for State this season, but Lebby and Anthony Tucker might be forced to find playing time somewhere for Gayten.

The Brookhaven native enters year two having already shown the ability to be electric with the ball in his hands. Though he played in 11 of the 12 games last year, Gayten didn’t have extensive playing time at the running back position, but he made the most of it.

With eight carries, Gayten turned that into 115 yards and a 72-yard score. He also had a 10-yard reception on the year and had a tackle in special teams.

In high school, no one had the faith in Gayten that On3 did. The network claimed him as a four-star and the highest rated player in the class for the Bulldogs as he came in as No. 250 overall nationally, the No. 8 athlete in the country and the No. 6 player inside the state of Mississippi.

The question for many was whether or not Gayten would play offense or defense on the next level and Zach Arnett and the previous coaching staff felt that defensive back was a possibility. But Gayten made that increasingly tough on State coaches with what he did offensively.

During his high school career for Brookhaven, Gayten racked up an impressive 5,216 yards on 7.8 yards per carry and had 54 touchdowns. He was first-team All-State his senior year when he had 2,055 yards and 25 touchdowns and he had five games with 200 yards or more.

The ability to make plays with the ball in his hands was too much for Lebby and the staff to turn down. Now, it’s about making sure that Gayten can help the team in some form of fashion despite having significant talent and depth with players like Davon Booth, Johnnie Daniels and Fluff Bothwell.