Here are the Missouri State football players the Bears signed on 2023 National Signing Day

A handful of recruits signed with Missouri State football and new head coach Ryan Beard during Wednesday's National Signing Day.

The new signees will add on to the 13 who signed with the Bears during December's early period. The new group includes a former SEC offensive lineman and a few players from Texas and Florida.

Note that a pair of listed players from southwest Missouri and an additional in-state player will be preferred walk-ons and were not announced by the university due to recruiting rules.

It is unlikely this will be the end of the Bears' recruiting class as this staff has added transfers throughout the summer in recent years.

Here are the new Missouri State football players who are set to join the team:

2023 SIGNING CLASS: Here are the players Missouri State, Ryan Beard signed during the 2022 early signing period

Jayden Becks, Waxahachie (Texas), RB

Becks is a speedy running back out of Texas who runs a 40-yard dash in 4.36 seconds.

Becks held offers from Houston Christian, Mississippi Valley and Prairie View A&M before choosing to play for the Bears. He was a second-team all-district performer as a senior.

The 5-foot-11, 195-pounder was coached by those who helped give the Bears All-MVFC defensive end Kevin Ellis.

Timothy Brantley, Allen (Texas), DL

The Bears added size to their defensive line with Brantley, a 6-foot-1, 315-pound defensive tackle from Texas.

Brantley isn't the most active on social media and didn't list what schools were interested in him. His highlights show how quick he is for his size while playing at one of the most recognizable high school programs in the country.

He finished last season with 21 total tackles, three sacks and four quarterback hurries.

Erick Cade, Ole Miss, OT

Likely to be a fixture on the Bears' offensive line, Cade is a 6-foot-6, 345-pounder who was a three-star out of high school. He told the News-Leader that he will play tackle when he practiced at guard at Ole Miss.

Cade is one of the bigger players to enter the MSU football program. He did not play at Ole Miss after redshirting in 2021 and not playing as a redshirt freshman this past season.

Out of Braswell High in Denton, Texas, Cade was rated as a three-star prospect by all major recruiting services and was rated as the No. 57 offensive tackle in the nation. He held offers from Alabama, Texas, Texas A&M, LSU and Arizona State among others.

In high school, he was named to the Denton-area All-Decade Team by the Denton Record-Chronicle. In 2019, he was touted as a Power-5 starter and was compared to Detroit Lions offensive guard Logan Stenberg by 247Sports.

After hitting the transfer portal, Cade said he was pursued by Kansas State until the school had too many returners who filled up the vacant spots on the roster. He also heard from Buffalo, Arkansas State, Louisiana Tech, Texas State and Tennessee State but none of them gave him the "homey feel" that Missouri State did.

Josh Deal, Francis Howell, K

The state's all-time leading scorer for a kicker, Deal committed to Missouri State which was in need of a kicker following Jose Pizano's decision to transfer to UNLV. He will be a preferred walk-on.

Deal is coming off a Class 5 first-team all-state season and nearly averaged a touchback per kick at 58.9 yards per boot. He also doubled as a punter with an average of 31.7 yards per kick. He made four field goals this past season along with 93 extra points.

Jayden Gillens, Jones (Florida), WR

The first of two players who signed out of Jones High in Florida, Gillens is a 5-foot-11 wide receiver who runs a 4.29-second 40-yard dash.

Gillens' listed offers come from Ole Miss, Marshall and Alabama State. He's been listed as one of the top players out of the Orlando area and was a ballhawk in the Jones secondary this past season.

He finished 2022 with five catches for 132 yards and a touchdown offensively and 21 total tackles and three interceptions defensively, according to his MaxPreps. He's also a noted kick returner.

Ramone Green II, Nixa, RB

The News-Leader's 2022 high school football player of the year will stay home and play for Missouri State. He will be a preferred walk-on.

The all-state running back is coming off a season in which he led the area with 2,223 rushing yards and 32 touchdowns. It followed a junior season that he was forced to miss the majority of while dealing with a broken collarbone.

Green also held offers from Western Illinois, Fort Hays, Missouri Western, Pitt State, Lincoln and others.

Watson Hafer, West Plains, TE

Hafer is a 6-foot-4, 220-pound tight end who the News-Leader recognized as a first-team All-Ozarks player. Hafer finished the 2022 season with 39 catches for 500 yards and four touchdowns.

Hafer also held offers from Illinois State, Southern Illinois, Southeast Missouri State, Eastern Illinois, Lindenwood and others. He will be a preferred walk-on for the Bears.

Hafer showed the ability throughout the 2022 season to go up and high-point passes. He is the second player from West Plains to commit to this year's class along with Heston Miller who signed in December.

Hutson Lillibridge, Tulane, OL

The need to get bigger on the offensive line continued with the Bears landing Lillibridge, a Tulane transfer who attended school at DeSmet in St. Louis.

Lillibridge is a 6-foot-3, 304-pounder who was a three-star out of high school. He was rated as the No. 23 player out of Missouri in his signing class.

Lillibridge made one appearance during his redshirt season in 2021 before playing in nine games last season. Out of high school, he was also offered by Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisville, a few MAC schools, a few MVFC schools and others.

Jax Rumsey, Moore (Oklahoma), OL

Rumsey is a 6-foot-3, 311-pound offensive lineman who will come in as a freshman from Oklahoma where he started all four years. He will immediately become one of the biggest players on Missouri State's roster.

Rumsey was initially committed to Oklahoma State as a preferred walk-on. He also held offers from Northeastern State, East Central and Central Oklahoma.

Jamauri Sands, Jones (Florida), DB

Gillens' partner-in-crime in the Jones secondary will also join Missouri State.

Sands is a 6-foot-1, 170-pound defensive back who held offers from Grambling State and several schools at the Division II level.

Sands finished the 2022 season with 35 total tackles and three interceptions, according to his MaxPreps.

Floyd Williams, Gosnell (Arkansas), DB

Williams signed with the Bears after tweeting out his commitment to the team but then, in the following days, saying he had received offers from Oregon and Houston.

Prior to committing to the Bears, Williams had more than a dozen offers from various HBCUs, Ivy League programs and Arkansas State.

Williams played on both sides of the ball throughout his high school career which included being a quarterback who rushed for almost 2,000 yards in a season. There might not be many players on the Bears' roster with his type of speed right now and MSU will take it.

Early signing day signees

• Ryan Boyd, WR, Cardinal Ritter

• Craig Burt Jr., WR, Western Kentucky

• Angelo Butts, WR, Miami (Ohio)

• Justin Curtis, OL, Wagner College

• Cole Feuerbacher, QB, Glendale

• Kaleno Levine, DB, Tyler Junior College

• Andrew Link, DL, Kickapoo

• Heston Miller, ATH, West Plains

• Cooper Roy, EDGE, Air Force

• Michael Teason, LB, Christian Brothers

• Caden Wiest, DL, Reeds Spring

• Dallas Winner-Johnson, ATH, Cardinal Ritter

• Kanye Young, LB, Reedley College

Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or Twitter at @WyattWheeler_NL. He's also the co-host of Sports Talk on Jock Radio weekdays from 4-6 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Missouri State football: National signing day 2023 recruits