Column | Three Offensive Catalysts for the Ole Miss Offense in 2025

OXFORD, Miss. — Every great offense has a spark. It’s that one player who can change the entire dynamic of a game with a single play. Ole Miss has had many in the Lane Kiffin Era, players like Matt Corral, Elijah Moore, Tre Harris III and more. These players don’t just fill up the box sheet, they’re catalysts for the entire offense.

These players force defenses to adapt, create opportunities for everyone around them, and they possess that game-breaking talent that elevates the offensive unit as a whole. As we look ahead to a season where Ole Miss has reloaded its offensive room, there are three offensive players whose unique skill sets are poised to push this offense to new heights.

This article focuses on these players, going in-depth on what they can do to really add another element to Lane Kiffin and Charlie Weis Jr.’s offense.

Austin Simmons

Catalyst Skill: Rushing Ability

Ah yes, the quarterback. It’s no coincidence the Ole Miss QB has received a lot of buzz entering 2025. Simmons has received steady doses of praise from different outlets ever since arriving at Ole Miss as a member of the 2023 recruiting class.

While the national media has yet to stake its claim on the first-year signal caller, those close to Oxford know the ability Simmons possesses as a passer. His talent rivals some of the great QBs who have passed through Oxford.

However, it’s neither the arm talent, knowledge of the system, nor even the leadership that could be the skill that adds a new layer to the Ole Miss offense. It’s going to be Austin Simmons’ ability to rush the football and make plays with his feet.

My colleague at The Rebel Walk, David Walker, recently published an article discussing Lane Kiffin and the evolution of QBs — not only in his career but in college football as a whole. In that article, David dives into the effect that Kiffin had in transitioning Alabama from a traditional power-run scheme to an RPO focused spread program. The same of which he has brought over to Ole Miss.

In Oxford, Ole Miss signal callers have had success and using their legs has been an important factor in that. Matt Corral averaged 560 rushing yards a season in his two seasons starting under Kiffin. Recent first round NFL Draft pick and current New York Giants QB Jaxson Dart averaged 499 with his bruising approach to the run game.

However, it’s not just enough for me to say that history shows the importance, it’s critical to say why. A recurring theme in this article is going to be versatility, depth and taking advantage of mismatches. Simmons showing the ability to run adds to all three.

The QBs ability to run in Kiffin’s system benefits from tempo, pace, and isolating defenders in RPO’s. As Ole Miss fans know, the Rebel offense thrives on playing quick, and this forces defenders to have to play sharp and consistent for multiple long stretches without a substitution.

Ole Miss has thrived with attacking the point defender who has to make situations in RPOs. As a drive wears on, fatigue sets in and if the QB can run, that creates an advantageous 11-on-11 situation favoring the offense, instead of the normal 10-on-11. Defensive ends and linebackers will now have to factor in Simmons’ rushing ability on every play.

This in turn can help the rushing game find greater success in getting to the second level. Looking at the weapons Ole Miss has in the run game, creating situations where these guys can use their vision to get deeper into the defense can weigh down the linebackers and secondary having to tackle some bruising style rushers.

A QB who can run is a strong chess-piece in Lane Kiffin’s offense, and Austin Simmons is a smart player who will have to realize his next move may be to utilize his legs.

Kewan Lacy

Catalyst Skill: Home Run Plays and Pass Catching Versatility

A great transition from talking about how a mobile QB draws in defenders freeing up lanes for the running back would be to talk about the running back. There’s no running back in the Ole Miss backfield who could benefit more from that than Missouri transfer Kewan Lacy.

Another phone-a-friend moment here, but The Rebel Walk’s Daylan Flowers has steadily been involved in Oxford getting us information live from training camp. Part of that has been the conversation about running back where, since the start of camp, the conversation has been about Lacy getting more reps.

The 6-foot, 200-lb. running back is competing for touches in a veteran RB room with returners Logan Diggs and Domonique Thomas, as well as program newcomers in Troy transfer Damien Taylor and prep school standout Shekai Mills-Knight.

Diggs and Taylor are the two most experienced rushers on this list from the collegiate level, with Diggs bringing high-level competition from his time at LSU and Notre Dame, while Taylor was an impact rusher for the Trojans last season.

Lacy, simply put, brings a different skillset than both Diggs and Taylor to the Ole Miss rushing room. Both Diggs and Taylor are patient runners with size and vision to be workhorses, while Lacy wins with  home run ability and versatility. At 200 pounds, Lacy runs hard for his size, but he is a speedster with a track background that saw a 100m time of a 10.79 early in high school days.

After watching film of Lacy from both Mizzou and high school, you can see he shows excellent burst and acceleration to fly through gaps with his sprinter background. He runs physical where arm tackles on the outside and second level aren’t always effective in bringing him down, and he displays plus-contact balance for a back of his size. In his high school days, Lacy also took time playing wide receiver at Lancaster High School in Texas where he added 14.94 yards per reception in his senior season.

Why is that important? Earlier we discussed the ability to play 11-on-11 with the QB and finding that extra space for a running back to excel. Lacy can quickly gain yardage, having the ability to run through open holes and get to the second level. With an offensive unit full of dynamic pass catchers who thrive in space, Lacy can aid in creating favorable matchups for the offense to exploit while boasting this high yards per carry back who is capable of explosive plays as both a rusher and receiving threat out of the backfield or out wide.

Caleb Odom

Catalyst Skill: Vertical Threat Ability

A highly-rated recruit at tight end, Odom made the switch to wide receiver at Alabama last year, and it made sense in Kalen DeBoer’s offense. Now with Odom at Ole Miss, the word from camp is that he has received significant time working with the tight ends. Part of this could be due to the injury of Arkansas transfer tight end Luke Hasz.

In his freshman season with the Tide, Odom was listed at 6-foot-5 and 215 lbs. Now, Ole Miss has him listed at 6-foot-5 with a bigger weight gain at 235 lbs.

Earlier, I mentioned how the Ole Miss offense works and the themes from this article are depth, versatility and taking advantage of mismatches. Looking at this pass-catching group, De’Zhaun Stribling profiles as an X-receiver whose physical contested catch ability thrives in the intermediate part of the field. Harrison Wallace III has the footwork and quickness to thrive as a flanker alone on the other side. Cayden Lee should be the slot receiver who can create space. The one thing that Ole Miss could really use his is a vertical threat who can stretch the field while making mismatches in the passing game. Enter Caleb Odom.

It’s been my opinion that Odom will thrive as a Move TE for this offense due to his elite physical traits and smooth pass catching ability for a tight end.

Odom holds a reported 35-inch vertical jump and runs the 40 yard dash somewhere between 4.5 and 4.6 seconds. He looks like a tight end but moves like a wide receiver, and with an offense that thrives in getting players in winnable situations, Odom has the chance to be a nightmare for defensive coordinators.

The decision to have Odom line out wide or even off the ball, creates situations where linebackers may have to cover him, but that’s a speed mismatch. Defensive backs could cover him, but that’s a physicality mismatch. One can see the trend here. It goes deeper than just a matchup mismatch, but his ability can alter the response to personnel. Say Ole Miss wishes to go 12 personnel with two TEs and really sell the run, Odom can use that speed in play action to slip behind the defense.

In zone coverages, Odom can be used for vertical routes to beat zones where his long arms and height create a huge catch radius to get targets as a zone beater.

As one would infer, targets are limited in this game. Even though Ole Miss has a deep group on offense, only so many players can get touches or targets. Odom’s ability to stretch and be that vertical threat will also create opportunities for the aforementioned Stribling, Wallace III, Lee, and Traylon Ray or Deuce Alexander to get open in parts of the field they have historically had success.

If that were to happen, Ole Miss has the offensive chess pieces to attack teams via either the run or the pass, potentially producing one of the nation’s most electric offenses.

Ole Miss opens the season on August 30th at Vaught-Hemingway when the Rebels host Georgia State.