2024 Football Roster
Roster
Stone Blanton
- Position:
- LB
- Height:
- 6-2
- Weight:
- 230
- Class:
- Junior
- Hometown:
- Jackson, Miss.
- High School/Previous School:
- Madison-Ridgeland Academy (South Carolina)
Career Honors
2025 NFF Hampshire Honor Society
2024 SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll
2022-23 SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll
Career Notes
Played in 36 career games with 24 starts โฆ Started 24 consecutive games through the 2024 season โฆ Played in 33 straight games dating back to Sept. 29, 2022 โฆ Following the 2024 season, Blanton has recorded 184 tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, seven pass breakups, three forced fumbles and one fumble recovery โฆ Seven career double-digit tackle games โฆ Declared for the 2025 NFL Draft on Jan. 15, 2025 and has until Feb. 7 to decide to stay in or pull his name out of the draft.
2024 (Junior Season)
Played in 12 games with 12 starts โฆ Career-best 125 tackles โฆ First-career 100+ tackle season โฆ Earned 125 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 0.5 sack, three pass breakups, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery โฆ Tied for second in the SEC in total tackles and tied for ninth in the FBS โฆ Joined teammate Isaac Smith to help State have the top two tacklers in the SEC for three straight seasons โฆ Finished second on the team in tackles โฆ Six double-digit tackle games โฆ Led the team in tackles a team-best seven times โฆ 14+ tackles in three of the final four games โฆ Career-high 18 tackles vs. Missouri โฆ Eastern Kentucky (8/31): Made his Mississippi State debut and made his first start in the Maroon & White โฆ Recorded five tackles, all assisted tackles โฆ Earned a pass break up โฆ Earned a coverage grade of 79.9 which was the second-best coverage grade for all linebackers in the SEC ... at Arizona State (9/7): Recorded eight tackles, three solo and five assisted ... Toledo (9/14): Recorded 10 tackles, one solo and nine assisted ... Set a new career high in forced fumbles ... Florida (9/21): Recorded eight tackles, one solo and seven assisted โฆย Tied for the team lead in tackles with Isaac Smith ... First time in 2024 leading or tying for the team lead in total tackles ... at Texas (9/28): Recorded 10 tackles, four solo and six assisted โฆ Had one tackle for loss for two yards โฆ Earned a half a sack โฆ forced a fumble and recovered it for his first career fumble recovery โฆย First game as a Bulldog with double-digit tackles ...ย at Georgia (10/12): Recorded nine tackles, eight solo and one assisted ...ย at Georgia (10/12): Recorded nine tackles, eight solo and one assisted โฆ Led the team in tackles ...ย vs. Texas A&M (10/19): Recorded nine assisted tackles โฆ Had one QB hurry โฆ Had one pass break up ...ย Arkansas (10/26): Recorded 10 tackles, one solo and nine assisted โฆ Third double-digit tackle game of the season ... Led the team in tackles four the fourth time this season ...ย UMass (11/2): Recorded 14 tackles, two solo and 12 assisted โฆ Had one pass break up โฆ Led the team in tackles for the fifth time this season ...ย at Tennessee (11/9): Recorded nine tackles, one solo and eight assisted ...ย vs. Missouri (11/23): Recorded 18 tackles, three solo and 15 assisted โฆ Had one tackle for loss โฆ Earned his fifth double-digit tackle game of the season ... Season-high in tackles โฆ at Ole Miss (11/29): Recorded 14 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.
2023ย (Sophomore Season - South Carolina)
Started all 12 games for the Gamecocks ... Recorded 52 tackles with one sack, one interception and one forced fumble ... Had a season-high 10 tackles in the season-opener against North Carolina ... Lone sack on the year came against Georgia on Sept. 16.
2022 (True Freshman Season - South Carolina)
He was a true freshman who saw action in 12 of 13 games โฆ Did not see action against Charlotte โฆ Accumulated seven tackles, including five solo stops โฆ Credited with 1.5 tackles for loss and one pass breakup โฆ Logged a pair of tackles against both Texas A&M and Florida โฆ Notched his first career tackle for loss and pass breakup in the win over South Carolina State โฆ Also had a half-tackle for loss at Florida โฆ Named to the SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll.
High School
Graduated from Madison-Ridgeland Academy in Jackson, Miss. in 2022 โฆ Was also an outstanding baseball player โฆ Was a semifinalist (top 15) for the high school Butkus Award โฆ Selected to play in the Under Armour All-America game โฆ Named the MAIS 6A Defensive Player of the Year after leading the Patriots to an 11-3 record and the state championship โฆ Also named the WAPT/Blitz 16 Player of the Year โฆ Led the Patriots with 125 tackles, 26 TFLs and 11 sacks as a senior โฆ Credited with 99 tackles, 11 TFLs and five sacks as a junior โฆ Logged 61 tackles with 14.5 TFLs and four sacks as a sophomore in 2019 โฆ Coached by Herbert Davis โฆ Considered the seventh-best player in the state of Mississippi, the 28th-best linebacker in the nation and No. 285 overall by 247Sports Composite โฆ Rated No. 230 on the ESPN300 list.
Personal
Archer Stone Blanton was born Sept. 12, 2002 ... Goes by his nickname 'Stone'ย ...ย Grew up a huge Mississippi State fan, coming to games with his family his whole life ... Originally committed to play baseball at Mississippi Stateย โฆ is undeclared on his major.
Social Media
X/Twitter โ @stoneblanton7
Instagram โย stoneblanton7
Career-Highs
Tackles: 18, vs. Missouri (11/23/2024)
Tackles for Loss: 1.5, at Ole Miss (11/29/2024)
Sacks: 1.0,ย at Georgia (9/16/2023) *
QB Hurries: 2, vs. Vanderbilt (South Carolina, 11/11/2023) *
Interceptions: 1, vs. Jacksonville State (11/4/2023) *
Pass Breakups: 2, vs. Jacksonville State (11/4/2023) *
Forced Fumble: 1, 3x, last at Texas (09/21/2024)
Fumble Recoveries: 1, at Texas (09/21/2024)
* Career-high set at South Carolina
