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Mississippi State lands Florida State's Jayson Jenkins on defensive line

3rupauk8_400x400by: Robbie Faulk01/05/26RobbieFaulkOn3

An experienced defensive lineman is headed to Mississippi State for his final season of college football.

Zach Arnett dipped back into his last stop to land Jayson Jenkins from Florida State. The coach was with the Seminoles this past season as a Defensive Analyst before coming back to coach the Bulldogs’ defense and now he’s bringing a 6’6, 280-pound defender with him.

The Bulldogs had already had some contact with Jenkins during his last run in the transfer portal when he left Tennessee following last season. In his three seasons at Knoxville, Jenkins redshirted a year and then spent two years as a reserve defensive tackle making 15 total tackles and delivering 2.0 sacks and a forced fumble his last year in 2024.

With the Seminoles in 2025, Jenkins had 17 total tackles and 1.0 sack. He started in five games of the 12 games this year.

Jenkins initially signed with Tennessee out of high school in the 2022 class as a three-star from Notre Dame High School in New Jersey. He had offers from UT, Missouri, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, West Virginia and others, and would work his way into being a regular contributor for the Vols in 2023 and ’24. He had 32 tackles with 5.5 sacks as a senior.

After the commitment of Missouri WR Marquis Johnson on Sunday afternoon, the Bulldogs have already landed a couple of commitments out of the transfer portal. Jenkins joins Johnson as another player that has played significant reps inside the SEC.

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