Power ranking the Ole Miss football position groups
The makeup of the 2023 Ole Miss football team is one that is more of a mix of returning veterans, transfer portal additions and high school recruits. More so than in recent seasons there is a little more of a balance to the roster.
Fourth year Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin has leaned tad more towards the portal in the past couple recruiting cycles but is putting focus back on the high school ranks to try and add some balance and also plan out for the future.
With all the moving parts including the annual roster turnover due to graduation, NFL Draft and now the transfer portal the Rebels are stronger in certain position groups and weaker in others.
It is easy to look at the roster and see which groups are set up well for the upcoming season while other groups are still trying to round into form and settle the depth chart.
Here is where I would rank the Ole Miss position groups in a power rankings format
1. Ole Miss Quarterbacks
Ole Miss was set up very well for this fall and beyond with the quarterback room of Jaxson Dart, Spencer Sanders and Walker Howard but then the addition of Austin Simmons made it a potential embarrassment of riches.
This group is one of the top quarterback rooms in the country, let alone the Southeastern Conference. Three players with Division I experience spearheaded by Dart who is the returning starter. Then there is Sanders who comes from Oklahoma State with four years starting experience and Howard who was a part of the LSU quarterback carousel that ultimately stopped with Jayden Daniels.
How the offense goes is going to be dictated by how the quarterbacks perform. I know many are focused on how the offensive line performs, and with good reason, but the signal callers will be the key cog.
2. Running Backs
Right behind the quarterbacks, literally and physically, is the running backs room. This one is easy as all that needs to be said is Quinshon Judkins.
The presences of Judkins alone is enough to make the running backs room a strong group for Ole Miss. Add in a healthy Ulysses Bentley IV who gets the opportunity to show what he can do at 100 percent plus freshman Kedrick Reescano makes for a potentially strong three-headed monster again.
Losing Zach Evans to the NFL hurts a little with depth but Bentley looked hungry to prove himself this spring that he can help fill the void. Reescano finished out his senior year through the spring semester and he will be making his first impressions come August in fall camp.
Then there are returners in Matt Jones and Fred McAfee that can add some depth and also get their chance to help bolster the position group.
3. Defensive Line
I have been saying this all spring and I will continue beating the drum all summer and into fall camp, but the Ole Miss defensive line is the most seasoned and deepest group this year.
With returners Cedric Johnson, Jared Ivey, Zxavian Harris and JJ Pegues leading the way with a slew of additions from the portal including Joshua Harris and Isaac Ukwe the group is very strong.
Mix in the arrival of Pete Golding as the latest defensive coordinator and his revamped scheme with a four-man front and Ole Miss has the potential to be one of the top defensive line units this season.
I really, really like this group and it is the top unit on the defensive side of the ball, hands down. There is plenty of firepower up front that can disrupt opposing offenses and it will be needed to help shore up the next two levels on that side of the ball.
Ole Miss EDGE Cedric Johnson
4. Ole Miss Wide Receivers
As it is easy to tell I am a little bit higher on the offense as whole when it comes to evaluating the position groups, at least as of right now.
The wide receivers are the third strongest position group on that side of the ball. While there are plenty of bodies in the room it is more of a question of who will become the top guys for Ole Miss this year.
Jordan Watkins starts the conversation as the top returner from 2022. Then there is Dayton Wade who was the walk-on standout and back for another season in Oxford. Jalen Knox and JJ Henry are the other two that round out the key returners.
But then the questions of how will the transfer and high school additions fare? Ayden Williams instantly helps make the group better and the signing of Cayden Lee is also a positive. Then there are the portal products Tre Harris and Zakhari Franklin
5. Tight Ends
This could be a group lumped in with the receivers but when looking at the Ole Miss tight ends it is also fair to separate them as well.
Michael Trigg returns for his season season with the Rebels and one that needs to be better than his 2022 debut. Beyond three touchdowns against Central Arkansas in September there was not much else to write home about. The injury in the Vanderbilt game did not help Trigg’s cause, either.
But Kiffin brought in Caden Preiskorn from Memphis and helped improve the position room immediately. The Tigers second best receiver from a season ago also has the look to be the blocking tight end Ole Miss has been lacking. Trigg was not very effective in that aspect of his game.
This duo plus sophomore Kyirin Heath makes for one of the better tight end rooms in the SEC, on paper. Games will dictate how effective this group will be.
6. Linebackers
Maybe this group should be higher in the rankings solely on the fact of having Suntarine Perkins, but the linbackers are placed here for a reason. There are too many questions for me still with how this unit as a whole will fare in 2023.
Getting the top prospect in Mississippi is a big get and nice way to help patch up holes within this group. Perkins instantly makes the second level of the Ole Miss defense better.
Then there are returners in Ashanti Cistrunk, Khari Coleman, Tyler Banks and Reginald Hughes. The first two are going to need to take an even bigger step this fall from how their seasons went last year. Banks and Hughes have their chances to really be impact players this season and Golding’s system could help with that. It does not hurt that he is also the linebackers coach.
Out of the portal comes Monty Montgomery and Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste who had decent springs, but how they will be in the Ole Miss defense will be revealed come September.
The potential for the linebackers to be very good is there on paper. The potential just has to come off the pages and onto the field.
Ole Miss linebacker Monty Montgomery
7. Ole Miss Secondary
The last line of the defense for Ole Miss is one that has a lot of replacing production to do.
Keeping Deantre Prince for one more season helps plus Ladarious Tennison and Isheem Young back is also good for the depth. But there is going to be a need for younger players in Taylor Groves and upperclassmen in Trey Washington to help fill the voids left by AJ Finley and Otis Reese.
Finley and Reese were on the field for nearly every play last season and that veteran experience will be missed in the Ole Miss secondary. Especially as the players are learning an entirely new defensive scheme.
Seeing how transfers Jadon Canady, DeShawn Gaddie, Jr. and Zamari Walton mix in is the key. Freshman additions in Daniel Demery and AJ Brown could also prove vital in the depth chart formation.
8. Offensive Line
Maybe this is too harsh a ranking for this group but out of all the Ole Miss positions this is the one I have my spotlight on.
The question of will the front line of the offense improve from a season ago where they were putting Dart under duress constantly when facing a top-level defense is the first one.
Returners in Caleb Warren, Jeremy James, Micah Pettus, Jayden Williams and Eli Acker give plenty of experience in the room.
Bringing in Victor Curne out of the portal is another strong addition. Freshman Brycen Sanders might get looked at early and is definitely in the mix for the two-deep consideration once fall camp begins.
New position coach John Garrison has now had a full spring to get his group in order after the quick hiring between the Egg Bowl and Texas Bowl did not allow for much time to gel with his players. How will the first true spring plus summer workouts and fall camp improve that chemistry? Another big question.
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