COLUMN: With the most talented QB room in the country, Ole Miss will look Saturday to find answers to the Rebels’ quarterback question
OXFORD, Miss. — As a former quarterback, I’m frequently asked what I think about the quarterback competition going on at Ole Miss, where the Rebels have, in my opinion, the top QB room in the country. To be honest, it’s almost difficult to fathom the unique wealth of quarterback talent Ole Miss has amassed in head coach Lane Kiffin’s short time in Oxford.
But you can bet Coach Kiffin knows exactly what he’s got. He said as much this Wednesday in the SEC Coaches Weekly Teleconference.
“We’re excited about that room, adding so many numbers in the offseason, really from one to four. It’s been really competitive and the future looks bright. We’re excited to have two returning starters that have played in really big games. That’s a great situation to be in.”
Lane Kiffin on his QB room
Few coaches, if any that I can recall, have ever had a quarterback room comprised of three much-ballyhooed, highly-touted TRANSFERS — Jaxson Dart, Spencer Sanders and Walker Howard. Then, as if it wasn’t deep enough, the quarterback position was enhanced even more with the two-year-early enrollment of 17-year-old freshman Austin Simmons.
And, then, if all the above weren’t enough, the Rebels received a commit last weekend from 2024 4-star QB Trever Jackson.
Quarterback U, anyone?
As for this season, Kiffin has officially assembled THE Power-5 Transfer Trio to take on all comers on the 2023 schedule. No one cares about their harmonizing skills; what matters is who performs the best in a solo role in clutch situations. This can only be proven in the heat of battle — and that battle begins Saturday at Vaught-Hemingway.
Kiffin’s quarterbacking model is likely the ultra-passionate, “generational-talent” Matt Corral. Matt not only led the SEC in total offense in 2020 but is now on an NFL roster, being picked up Thursday by the New England Patriots. He’s the man who initially lost his starting job after suffering an injury but was reinserted upon Kiffin’s arrival in Oxford. Corral later led the Rebels to their first-ever 10-win regular season.
But we’re not done yet. Scan across the landscape of 2023 Heisman Trophy candidates posted in the Vegas sportsbooks and you’ll discover four quarterbacks with Ole Miss ties on that esteemed list.
One might question how this overall situation is even possible. I would personally ask if it’s not an all-time first for college football. Three Power-5 transfers make up the quarterback room, while four current or former Ole Miss quarterbacks are on the Heisman list, and another is slated to get untracked this season in the NFL.
Jaxson Dart
Jaxson Dart (Southern Cal transfer) is the Rebels’ returning starter who, on the eve of tomorrow’s kickoff, has not yet been named the starting QB for 2023. The Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Preseason Watch List honoree enters his junior season with 4,327 career passing yards and 29 passing touchdowns. He owns 4,984 career total offensive yards, and enters 2023 ranked No. 4 on the Ole Miss all-time career total offense per play list (7.32; min. 400 plays), No. 13 on the total offense list (3,588) and No. 17 on the passing yards list (2,974).
Jaxson Dart on the money 🎯
— We Run the Sip (@OMRebelNation) November 1, 2022
Last season, Dart threw for nearly 3,000 yards and passed for 20 touchdowns. Throughout the spring and fall, the staff reported a growth in his maturity and leadership from last season, along with a reduction in turnovers.
Spencer Sanders
Spencer Sanders (Oklahoma State transfer) is the exiting starter from the Big 12 Cowboys after starting 41 games in Stillwater. In those four seasons, Sanders completed 61.1 percent (765-of-1,253) of his passes for 9,553 passing yards to go with 67 touchdown passes to 40 interceptions. On the ground, Sanders has rushed for nearly 2,000 yards to go with 18 touchdowns.
TOUCHDOWN OKLAHOMA STATE
Spencer Sanders is GONE. 37 yards to the endzone! #Oklahoma #OklahomaState pic.twitter.com/LSml9g3IdY
— CFB Country (@_CFBCountry) November 28, 2021
He is one of the winningest quarterbacks in the Big 12 over the past four seasons, plus has a couple of MVP’s on his resume. Sanders led Oklahoma State to only the second 12-win season in school history and a Fiesta Bowl win over then-No. 5 Notre Dame. (Spencer beat then-Notre Dame coach and current LSU leader, Brian Kelly, in Kelly’s final game as coach of the Fighting Irish.) If there’s ever been another one-school, 4-year starting QB who’s transferred out, let us know. This looks like another first.
Walker Howard
Walker Howard (LSU transfer), the young redshirt freshman who’s anxious to become big man on campus (at an SEC West campus, preferably), comes in as the Rebels’ first-ever ESPN-ranked No. 1 dual-threat QB (2021). He’s also a Louisiana state-championship quarterback.
Walker Howard delivers a 60-yard bomb to Kyren Lacy, capping off a productive scrimmage in today’s #LSU spring practice. pic.twitter.com/Tqpw7rII9t
— Zack Nagy (@znagy20) April 9, 2022
Quarterbacking acumen apparently runs in the Howard family as his dad was a 3-year starter at LSU. Obviously he grew up “Geaux Tigers” before going “Hotty Toddy,” but all’s fair in love and quarterbacking. Walker’s crossroads materialized when he entered a program that has two entrenched quarterbacks at the forefront, one of them Jayden Daniels, the former ASU QB listed 8th on the Heisman board. Daniels is currently a spot behind SEC-Top-Gun Joe Milton of Tennessee. The urge to expeditiously have his own team was just too powerful a motive for a youngster with Howard’s talent to suppress.
Austin Simmons
Incoming freshmen phenoms are still always welcome in Oxford. Ole Miss got a surprise entrance from left-hander Austin Simmons, mentioned above, earlier this summer.
Austin Simmons, who flipped from Florida to Ole Miss this past weekend, is a rare prospect on and off the field:
-Reclassified from Class of 2025 to Class of 2023
-Reportedly has a 5.34 GPA
-Will play both football and baseball in the SEC pic.twitter.com/NpTraSi214— 247Sports (@247Sports) June 21, 2023
One item of note: I still hold the NCAA record as the “all-time youngest starting quarterback in college football history,” starting my first game for Texas A&M as a 17-year old freshman. I played the entirety of the season under the age of 18 as my birthday wasn’t until Christmas Eve. I’m rooting for Simmons, a fellow lefty at that. He has certainly impressed everyone in the program with his arm talent and his quick grasp of the offense.
Heisman Odds
As for that Heisman board, Ole Miss has three current players included — two of whom are QBs. Dart and Sanders are joined by Rebel running back Quinshon Judkins.
Quinshon Judkins for the score, breaking the single-season rushing record held by Kayo Dottley with 1352 yards and 16 TDs!! pic.twitter.com/aVzbP70Zps
— The Rebel Walk (@TheRebelWalk) November 20, 2022
There are also two additional quarterbacks on the Heisman list who are former Rebels, both of whom at one time were backups to Matt Corral.
John Rhys Plumlee, the QB who was the SEC’s freshman heartthrob for awhile in 2019, played at UCF last season and is again their starter for 2023 and makes the Heisman list. The Hattiesburg native started immediately for the Knights last year with Dillon Gabriel’s departure for Oklahoma, leading them to a 9-5 record and an appearance in the AAC championship game.
John Rhys Plumlee is a certified ATHLETE pic.twitter.com/FL1Tb0vY1u
— Cam Mellor (@CamMellor) August 31, 2023
Also on the Heisman board is new Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer. Altmyer was in the running for the starting job at Ole Miss in 2022 but had the misfortune of sustaining an early-season shoulder injury that knocked him out of the competition. Although he burned a redshirt his freshman year with his appearance in the Sugar Bowl after Corral’s injury, he did qualify for one last year, not having played in more than four games, and now has three years of eligibility remaining with head coach Brett Bielema and the Illini.
The toughest throw in football, made to look easy by Ole Miss QB Luke Altmyer, former understudy to likely 1st-rounder Matt Corral. pic.twitter.com/tbDQNiGgiM
— David Walker (@DavidWalkerQB) March 30, 2022
Let’s Roll
The time for talk is over. I think everyone is tired of listening to the pundits predict who they think will start. Whoever it is who lines up at QB for the Rebels against Mercer — and that may be two, three or even all four — you can bet he will be a solid operator. Each is extremely talented, but the question now is, which one can win it all? We may not know the final answer to that question after Saturday’s game, but we will at least be that much closer to getting it.
Ole Miss and Mercer kick off at 1:00 p.m. Saturday. The game streams on SECN+/ESPN+.
Go, Rebs!
David Walker
David Walker was named Louisiana’s High School Player of the Year at just 16 years old and, at 17, became college football’s first quarterback to earn Freshman of the Year honors. He remains the NCAA’s youngest-ever starting quarterback, a distinction that has stood for decades.
Transitioning from a wide-open high school offense to Emory Bellard’s renowned wishbone triple option, Walker excelled as a dual-threat quarterback. He graduated as Texas A&M’s all-time winningest quarterback and served as a two-time team captain, helping to transform a program that had endured 15 losing seasons in the previous 16 years.
After his playing career, Walker coached and taught algebra at six Texas high schools before moving into private business. In 2011, he published his memoir, “I’ll Tell You When You’re Good,” a title inspired by the coaching philosophy of Shannon Suarez, the Sulphur High and Louisiana High School Hall of Fame coach who was a significant influence on Walker’s life and career.
Walker’s compelling storytelling in his autobiography reflects the breadth of his experiences in high school and college football, and it is an undeniable fact that he saw more action than any athlete in the history of the NCAA. Since 2013, he has contributed to The Rebel Walk, sharing his insights and expertise with readers.
