Three more Bulldogs enter transfer portal, DJ Reed announces return
After Mississippi State’s football season came to an end in Charlotte on Friday night, the next wave of transfers are entering the portal for the Bulldogs.
Three young Bulldogs are entering their name in the portal following State’s 43-29 loss to Wake Forest in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. Leading the way of that group is sophomore defensive tackle Kai McClendon who enters after sitting out all of the 2025 season with an injury.
The 6’2, 315-pound tackle was a late commitment for the Bulldogs in Jeff Lebby’s first signing class and came to State from Gulfport as an upside pickup on the line of scrimmage. Defensive line would be where the Bulldogs would send him and McClendon worked his way into the starting lineup by the middle of the season due to State’s lack of depth on the line.
McClendon had some production with 32 tackles at the nose tackle spot with 2.0 tackles for loss and 0.5 sack. In the spring, McClendon would have to have surgery on his knee to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament. He missed the entire season but was dressing out for the Bulldogs in the last few games of the season.
In McClendon’s absence, State saw Jaray Bledsoe and Kalvin Dinkins combine for 8.5 TFL and 3.0 sacks in the middle. Both players will enter their senior seasons in 2026.
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Also exiting the team will be redshirt freshman cornerback Elijah Cannon. He had an interception in his first career game last season and ran it back for a touchdown, but just played in four contests in 2024. This season, Cannon played in 10 of the 13 games – mostly on special teams – and made one tackle.
Another special teamer that’s moving on is second-year player Cyrus Reyes. The former Memphis commitment followed safeties coach Matt Barnes to State and played in all 25 games over the last two years with 12 tackles.
State got some good news on the day as well with rising junior defensive tackle DJ Reed announcing his return for his second season in Starkville. Reed transferred to State from Auburn and had a productive redshirt sophomore season as he made 21 tackles and was second on the team with 2.0 sacks.
The Bulldogs are hoping for more return announcements in the coming days and waiting to hear from players like Isaac Smith, Anthony Evans, Zakari Tillman, Kelley Jones and others. 29 players have entered the transfer portal for the Bulldogs to this point.
