STARKVILLE — At the mention of Tyler Russell's name, Tyson Lee smiles. He's heard of him. Has spoken with him. Genuinely thinks he's a great guy.



The guy who, conceivably, could be gunning for his job as the Mississippi State quarterback starting in August.

"Tyler's going to be great at this," Lee said after Tuesday's practice, one of the final ones at State in preparation for Saturday's spring game at Scott Field.

"(He's a) big kid. Great arm, and a smart guy. I've talked to him a few times. He's got a great head on his shoulders. But when he comes in, I think it's going to be competitive between all of this. That's how it's got to be."

For as much as State's spring practice has centered around the installation of new coach Dan Mullen's spread offense, there has been a bigger question - at times whispered, at other times shouted - that will take over after Saturday's spring scrimmage:

Who will be State's quarterback this fall?

Conventional wisdom suggests Lee, who took over the starting job from Wesley Carroll in the middle of last season and returns for his senior year. Despite lacking in size at 5 feet 11, Lee is valued for his mobility and intelligence, and few would count out his ability to outwork anyone else on the team.

Conventional wisdom would also say that Chris Relf, a sophomore and the only other scholarship quarterback on the depth chart, might be a worthwhile backup.

Conventional wisdom would not suggest a true freshman as a starter in the Southeastern Conference, but few consider Russell, who led Meridian High to the MHSAA Class 5A state title last year, conventional.

And Mullen isn't committing to that conventional of an approach.

"We are not a redshirt program right here," Mullen said. "So when you come, if you are the best guy, our best guys are going to play. He is going to come in, and he has been at a couple of practices so he understands what's expected, so we are going to force feed him and see if we can get him ready to play next year."

That doesn't mean he's going to start on Sept. 5 against Jackson State, of course. But halfway through the year? By the end of it?

Any at all?

"I don't think they're going to redshirt me," Russell said. "They want me to go slow and learn the system and they say they're not going to put me in a bad situation. ... It's really not a lot of depth there at that spot, so I wouldn't be surprised if I got some playing time."

Russell, Mississippi's Mr. Football and Gatorade player of the year last fall, is as highly touted a quarterback recruit as MSU has had in many years.

As a senior, he completed 206 of 314 passes for 3,284 yards and 40 touchdowns, all while throwing a mere five interceptions. In winning the 5A state title, Meridian ended South Panola's amazing 89-game winning streak.

Russell attended an MSU practice as late as last week. At 6 feet 4, he's hard to miss. There, he visited with coaches and his fellow quarterbacks, whom he said were telling him plays and signals while they were shuffling in and out.

"We're real cool," he said of Lee and Relf. "They're going to help me out a lot."

Russell was originally scheduled to enroll at State in time for the start of the second summer session in July. But he said Wednesday that he's trying to work it out so that he can enroll a month earlier. It all depends on how quickly he can get everything situated after his May 29 high school graduation.

In the meantime, he's settling for the occasional 90-minute trip up Highway 45 for practice and the weekly phone call with quarterbacks coach Les Koenning.

And Mullen, for now, is more concerned with the progress of the quarterbacks he actually does have on campus.

"They have had up and down days, but what I have seen is them understanding it," Mullen said. "You know, when that light clicks on them, they start making quicker reads, and that is what is important to them. I'm going to say that on some plays the light is clicking faster than others, but that is part of our job now to evaluate what they do well and what they understand."

Last year, Lee completed 59 percent of his passes for 1,519 yards, seven touchdowns and five interceptions. That incumbency as the starter might be his biggest asset.

That and his familiarity with the spread, which he ran in high school and at Itawamba Community College.

"Not extremely hard," Lee said. "If you've been in a system like this, it makes more sense."

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