Spencer Sanders is ‘100 percent.’ What does that mean for the Ole Miss quarterback situation?

Ole Miss went from not having a quarterback competition this spring to inserting Jaxson Dart into one with the arrival of Spencer Sanders from Oklahoma State.

On paper the battle was exponentially tougher for Dart than the one he faced against Luke Altmyer a year prior. Dart won that one and Altmyer is now the top signal caller at Illinois.

But Sanders brought with him a four-year starter pedigree in the Big 12, something Altmyer did not. Dart was coming in as the starter and entering his second season under Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin, so the odds were in his favor to be the starter this fall.

Then spring came and Dart looked like a more polished version of his 2022 self. The growth and maturity was there after the trial by fire of playing in the Southeastern Conference in what was for all intents and purposes Dart’s first full college season.

What also put more chips in the corner for Dart to be the starter was Sanders entering spring practice with a shoulder injury suffered prior to arriving at Ole Miss. Dart took all the snaps with the ones while Sanders worked a limited program, easing into full participation by the Grove Bowl.

Days before fall camp begins Ole Miss has three fully healthy quarterbacks — lest we forget about Walker Howard coming from LSU — and a bevy of options in the room. Surprise freshman addition Austin Simmons is there as well but he is more about the future than 2023.

During SEC Media Days earlier this month Kiffin also provided a positive update on Sanders.

“Spencer’s 100 percent. He looked really good, as you guys saw, in the spring game,” Kiffin said to local reporters. “So, we’re excited about that because he was not 100 percent during spring ball.”

Sanders being full go as Ole Miss starts fall camp does not mean a quarterback battle is back on.

If anything it just provides Kiffin with a trio of quarterbacks who are capable of running this offense.

Dart showed improvements in spring and Howard appeared to have the best raw arm strength of the three. Of course Sanders was dealing with a less than 100 percent arm.

So what might be the strategy going forward when it comes to the offense and who will run it goal line to goal line?

The answer is still Dart as there has been no reason otherwise to assume he will not be walking out with the offense against Mercer come September 2 at 1 p.m.

Then there is what Kiffin said during Media Days as it pertained to the idea of yet another two-quarterback system. Something he toyed with for the first three weeks last year before giving the keys to the offense solely to Dart.

“I would prefer that not to happen,” Kiffin said. “But again, we don’t ever do something just because we’re supposed to. If that’s the best chance to win, then we would do that. I just think that that’s been challenging. There’s some times you can point where it’s worked. But most of the time, it’s not really worked great. The team’s got two different people (calling) cadence and different plays and stuff. So I would prefer that not to happen.”

There is still plenty of room for a two-quarterback system to take place but not in its purest form. Just look at the Grove Bowl and the stat sheet.

Dart and Sanders were the quarterbacks of the Red and Blue teams, respectively. Howard bounced between both squads in the backrup role.

The two Grove Bowl starters combined for nearly 570 passing yards but what Sanders did with his legs might have provided the answer for Ole Miss without anyone knowing it.

Sanders rushed six times for 72 yards and a touchdown to Dart’s 19 yards on three carries. Kiffin may have his answer to making sure he does not have the situation he had in 2021 with Matt Corral and his bad ankle.

Dart ran it a lot last year, more than Kiffin would have preferred. With Sanders stating he is all in with Ole Miss this fall there is now the chance to have two strong quarterbacks that compliment each other.

Let Dart be the air game executor and Sanders the ground game specialist when called for. Sanders can also come in and give Dart a breather if need be and air it out, but does not have to be the guy.

This allows for Dart to not take all the bumps on his lower body and avoids the starting quarterback potentially being out after getting hit under the hips and no options behind him.

We shall see how this shakes out but the idea of a true passer and a true run threat and it not being the same player for both is a nice luxury Kiffin and Ole Miss have fallen into. If they so choose that path.

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