Mississippi State’s 2016 recruiting class currently ranks No. 12 in the Southeastern Conference and No. 44 nationally.

But when you dive into it, it’s a solid 15-man group with plenty of additional targets left on the board. Bulldogs head coach Dan Mullen and his staff haven’t built a successful program by not knowing how to recruit.

Here are three big questions and answers about Mississippi State as we close in on National Signing Day.

What are the keys to Mississippi State finishing this class off right?

It is all about landing the local talent. There are two four-star prospects at Starkville High — wide receiver A.J. Brown and defensive tackle Kobe Jones — and then a four-star offensive tackle at nearby West Point High in Scott Lashley.

The ability to land their share of the talent within the state of Mississippi, in particular the local talent close to campus, has been a big key to the rise of the Mississippi State program and with less than a week until signing day this talented trio remains uncommitted.

State looks to be in great shape for Lashley and Brown and the feeling here is that in the end they keep Brown at home, but they are facing a serious challenge from Alabama. The Bulldogs are also battling for five-star in-state defensive end Jeffery Simmons with Ole Miss (the clubhouse leader) and the Crimson Tide also in the mix.

Who are some current commits in this class that are underrated?

That’s a good question because Mississippi State evaluates as well as anyone and sort of the secret sauce to the Bulldogs roster building has been to land their share of the no-brainer types in Mississippi and then make great evaluations out-of-state.

I think offensive tackle Greg Eiland, who is an in-state kid, is the sleeper of the class. I also really like the upside of Jamal Couch, Zach Farrar and Cameron Dantzler. Emmitt Gooden will have to take a detour to Holmes Community College, but I really like his upside as a defensive tackle and Mississippi State should get him right back in a couple of years.

What are the keys moving forward beyond this cycle for Mississippi State?

I believe it is simply to keep doing what they are doing. The Bulldogs are in the toughest division in college football, yet they’ve won 19 games the last two seasons and have the roster at a point there they should be at the very least competitive and possibly quite good every single season.

Mullen has built a program in Starkville that has a solid foundation and the idea is to keep adding enough talent to win every year. I don’t see any reason why that should change given the players they’ve added in the past.

Now, if talent starts leaving the state or if Mississippi State starts not signing its share within the state, then things are trending in the wrong direction, but that’s certainly not what has been happening and I don’t anticipate that it will.