Mississippi State grants Memphis a defensive commitment to help secondary woes

With the spring game in the books, the Mississippi State Bulldogs will spend the summer in the portal trying to fill in some missing pieces, and one of those needs has come in Memphis defensive back DeAgo Brumfield.

In the spring game, it was clear that the defense was lacking compared to the explosive offense on display. Quarterbacks Blake Shapen and Chris Parsons each had 50-plus yard touchdowns and dominated the passing game. It’s the spring game, so it’s hard to say if the offense was just as good or if the defense was just as bad.

The secondary struggled several times outside of a big deflection from Raydarious Jones after a deep ball from Shapen. With the addition of Brumfield, he can now be a ball hawk in the secondary that has been missing from the team since Emmanuel Forbes was drafted in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft by the Washington Commanders.

Memphis was an under-the-radar team, finishing 10-3 last year with Brumfield leading the way. The Cincinnati, Ohio native started 12 of 13 games played and had 42 total tackles, three tackles for loss, led the team in 10 pass breakups and a forced fumble.

The team’s best deflections will set him apart from the rest and make him an immediate impact player for the Bulldogs if he can take his skills to the noisy SEC. Brumfield is ready for the challenge and that energy is what head coach Jeff Lebby has been looking for in the secondary.

“Listen here, man,” Brumfield said. “I came from the NAIA, then I went on to Memphis, and now I’m going to the SEC. I’ll tell every kid to work hard and have faith. Put God first, but you gotta have faith .That’s what I would do.” Tell it to every child who faces the same kind of situation I did.”