LISTEN: National CFB analyst explains why Ole Miss is right to believe it contend in 2023
In this edition of Talk of Champions, Ben Garrett of the Ole Miss Spirit/On3 is joined by Barrett Sallee of CBS Sports and SiriusXM to preview the SEC in 2023.
Where does Barrett rank the Rebels in his preseason SEC West predictions? He’s having a hard time deciding between Ole Miss and Arkansas for third behind LSU and Alabama, respectively.
And is Quinshon Judkins a legitimate sleeper Heisman candidate?
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Here’s a brief excerpt from their extended conversation.
BEN: If you’ve got Texas A&M last in the SEC West, where do you have Ole Miss?
BARRETT: I’ve kind of gone back and forth with Ole Miss and Arkansas. I think LSU will be one and Alabama will be two. Could be wrong. Arkansas is almost the exact same blueprint as Ole Miss. Offense is going to be awesome. Arkansas’ defense just has to be average. They were so far below average last year. They were the worst pass defense in the country. You don’t have to be much better to make a huge difference.
I think Ole Miss is kind of in the same situation. But defensively they were pretty darn good in some areas and not so good in others. Down the stretch all hell broke loose. Right now, I’d probably have Ole Miss fourth behind Arkansas.
BEN: What makes you bullish on Ole Miss next season, and what makes you skeptical?
BARRETT: Bullish, just look at the offense. Look at the depth chart. Wide receivers coming in, the best running back and the quarterback Hunger Games (Rebel head coach Lane Kiffin) has created in Oxford. Everything he’s done offensively is the right way to go about it.
But I’ll take it a step further. I think Lane more than any other coach, and maybe he was the only coach, recognized after last season that the first transfer-portal window is the one where you have to do your damage.
And he did it in a way I think a lot of other coaches are going to try to replicate. It shows Lane is much more cerebral and has control of a program maybe much more than some outsiders might recognize. People will look at how he handled that Ole Miss program over the last year and say, ‘OK, that guy’s got the blueprint now. Didn’t expect it to come from Oxford and come from Lane, but he nailed it.’
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