Despite being picked to finish 7th in the Southeastern Conference by the media, there’s a growing excitement surrounding the Ole Miss football program as the Rebels look to carry on with life after Jaxson Dart. Last season, the Rebels went all in with crafting a near-perfect roster but fell short of the ultimate goal of reaching the College Football Playoff. As the Rebels prepare to start fall camp, the optimism surrounding the program is that it will be the team that has the potential to take Ole Miss to the College Football Playoff.

It all starts with Austin Simmons. With Jaxson Dart departing for the NFL, the Rebels turn to Austin Simmons at quarterback this season. In many ways, the upside potential of Austin Simmons might rival that of Jaxson Dart. However, the most significant question mark heading into fall camp for Ole Miss is the lack of experience as the starter that Austin Simmons has. With those concerns comes the rebuttal of Austin Simmons’ raw talent, combined with the quarterback whisperer himself, Coach Lane Kiffin, and his proven track record of molding talented individuals into superstars. This combination gives rise to the careful optimism surrounding the position for the Rebels this fall. Simmons, like the rest of the offensive unit, has an opener against a solid Georgia State team before getting thrown into the fire with a road game at Kentucky, before returning home for home games against Arkansas and LSU.

Elsewhere around the offensive side of the ball, Ole Miss will look to Cayden Lee and Harrison Wallace at wide receiver to lead the expansive receiver room after having to replace Tre Harris, Jordan Watkins, and Juice Wells from last season, combined with losing fan favorite Caden Prieskorn. The sheer numbers might be complex to replace this season, but Coach Kiffin believes in the receiver room, and showed that on Tuesday afternoon as Ole Miss opened fall camp. Coach Kiffin told the media, ” Our best depth on our roster would be our outside receiver position, or our receivers in general.”

At the running back position, Coach Kiffin and his staff had an uphill climb this offseason with having to replace the three-headed monster from last season. Still, Coach Kiffin replaced those guys with even more talent in guys like Logan Diggs, who missed most of last season with an injury, and Kevan Lacy.

On the offensive line, the Rebels lost four out of the five starters from last season, but return Diego Pounds at Left Tackle from the previous season. Names to watch out for on the line include PJ Wilkins at Left Guard, Brycen Sanders at Center, Patrick Kutas at Right Guard, and Jayden Williams at Right Tackle.

Overall, the offense for Ole Miss this fall should be just as exciting as last season, if not more. Austin Simmons and Cayden Lee have been waiting their turn in the system and have the opportunity to not only carry the torch but to blaze a further trail for future Ole Miss offensive players to follow. What Ole Miss lacks in experience, the Rebels make up for with the talent on the offensive side of the ball.

Photo Credits – Ole Miss Football on X