Lane Kiffin evaluates Ole Miss' quarterback competition entering Saturday's spring game
One of the most interesting quarterback situations in college football is at Ole Miss. Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin brought in two high-profile transfers out of the transfer portal to compete with Jaxson Dart, and fans will get their first look at the competition during Saturday’s spring game.
The formerly self-proclaimed “portal king” sounds happy with how things have gone this spring as Spencer Sanders and Walker Howard joined the party.
Kiffin joined The Paul Finebaum Show on Friday and discussed the quarterback situation ahead of the spring game. Sanders brings a wealth of experience in with him from Oklahoma State and Howard is a former highly-touted recruit who sat behind Jayden Daniels and Garrett Nussmeier last year at LSU.
Those different levels of experience have helped Kiffin improve that position, and he said getting better is always the goal.
“I feel great about that,” Kiffin said of the quarterback situation. “We have three quarterbacks. Jaxson being the only one that was here before, with Spencer and Walker additions. One that’s been a four-year starter, another one that was a very highly recruited player at LSU. We have definitely improved that room, which is the goal.
“The goal is not to make every player happy or their families happy. … Our goal is, like in professional sports, to put together the best roster that we can, make it competitive and try to improve in all areas. That’s what we did, especially at the quarterback position, and what we’ll continue to do at other positions here coming up.”
What each Ole Miss quarterback brings to the table
Dart was also a highly touted transfer last season, arriving from USC. He had a solid year in his first year at Ole Miss, throwing for 2,974 yards and 20 touchdowns while also adding 614 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
But he’ll now have someone with plenty of starting experience in the quarterback room in Sanders, who put together impressive campaigns at Oklahoma State.
In four years as the Cowboys’ starter, Sanders threw for 9,553 yards and 67 touchdowns. His best season came in 2021 when he totaled 2,839 yards and 20 touchdowns to help Oklahoma State to a 12-2 record and a Fiesta Bowl appearance.
Howard could look to cement himself as Ole Miss’ quarterback of the future given the hype he brought in from the recruiting trail last year. He’s a former four-star recruit and was the No. 45 overall prospect from the 2022 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.