Mississippi State lands 2026 pledge from Georgia defensive back
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Mississippi State added to its 2026 class on Saturday with a commitment from Buford (Ga.) High safety Jax Pope.
Pope is a 6-foot-1, 190-pound defensive back from the Peach State who held offers from Arkansas, Boston College, Duke, Maryland, Pitt, and Stanford, among others. He announced a final 5 at the end of May that featured the Bulldogs alongside Arkansas, Stanford, Duke, and Boston College.
Pope took an official visit to Mississippi State last weekend. He told 247Sports he plans to graduate early and enroll next January, and he has no intention of taking any other official visits. Pope is locked in with Jeff Lebby and his program.
In the industry-generated 247 Composite, Pope ranks as the No. 118 safety in the class and the No. 137 prospect from the state of Georgia. He’s a 3-star recruit.
According to MaxPreps, Pope made 29 tackles with 1 tackle for loss, 1 pass breakup, and 1 fumble recovery for Buford last fall.
He becomes the 16th known commit to join the Bulldogs’ Class of 2026. Seven of those pledges have come since June 10. With Mississippi State hosting some major weekends in recent weeks, Lebby is cleaning up on the trail and securing verbal commitments from the staff’s top targets. In the 247 Composite, Mississippi State’s class currently ranks 38th nationally and ninth in the SEC.
You can see Pope’s highlight tape below, via Hudl:
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
