Emmit Gooden is a 6-foot-4, 280-pound defensive lineman from Haywood High in Brownsville, Tenn. He’s on the lower edge of four-star status per 247Sports Composite rankings and is not a prospect that is going to show up on a ton of All-American lists or even among the instant impact difference-makers in the 2016 class around the Southeastern Conference.

He is committed to Mississippi State and though it may be that he slides inside to defensive tackle, chances are he will completely out-play his ranking in college.

The prediction here is not unusual when you are talking about the Bulldogs and the way they recruit and manage their roster.

Dan Mullen and his staff are one of the unheralded storylines each and every cycle when we talk about recruiting excellence. The Bulldogs build their roster by recruiting well and signing their share of prospects from the talent-rich Magnolia State (truth be told Mullen and Hugh Freeze at Ole Miss have almost completely shut down the borders) both in terms of high school and junior college talent.

But the state of Mississippi, while it has always been known for being one of the highest talent-producing states per capita, does not have the overall numbers to support two rosters at two major programs competing in the toughest division in college football.

The headlines the Rebels have made landing out-of-state prospects are well-known in the world of college football recruiting, but the job the Bulldogs have done is equally impressive, even if the headlines are not there.

Mississippi State goes into bordering states like Louisiana (Dak Prescott) and over to Georgia (Preston Smith) and even up to Tennessee at times (Gooden) and evaluates at a high level. MSU hits their numbers. Then they develop, develop, develop.

That’s why a Bulldogs team that went 10-3 in 2014 and was gutted by graduation in a lot of areas and yet here they are in 2015 back in a bowl game (Belk Bowl) and winners of eight games in the SEC West.

The reason programs go recruiting is to build a roster and have a winning program year-after-year. Consistency is perhaps the toughest thing to achieve in terms of roster-building. One bad class full of busts can hurt you and two is almost a death sentence in terms of suffering through a bottoming-out type of year (see: talent-void South Carolina this season, two years after finishing 11-2 and ranked No. 4). The great coaching staffs don’t let that happen.

It’s tough to spot sleepers and great evaluations. If they were easy to spot, then they would not be sleepers. But given Mississippi State’s track record, it’s not as difficult to follow their thinking, as was the case with Gooden. Here’s a big, athletic prospect that is athletic and versatile. He has the tools to develop into a college player that out-plays those ranked higher than him as high school prospects. There is example after example of this when you dig into what Mullen has done at Mississippi State.

And that is why the Bulldogs are going to continue to win, go to bowl games and be a tough out for every team they play in the coming seasons. The plan is in place and the talent is being acquired. 

We are all just going to have to wait to see it develop instead of trumpeting hype on signing day.