‘It’s not like t-ball’: Lane Kiffin doesn’t have another Elijah Moore or Dontario Drummond ... yet.
Lane Kiffin had a ball-dominant wide receiver in each of his first two Ole Miss seasons.
Elijah Moore, now with the NFL’s New York Jets, was the initial beneficiary. He played in and started eight games during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and hauled in a school-record 86 receptions for 1,193 yards and eight touchdowns. He went on to be named a consensus All-American after leading the country in receiving yards (149.1) and receptions (10.8) per game.
Dontario Drummond, an undrafted 2022 signee of the Dallas Cowboys, was next up. Drummond, last season, had 76 catches and nearly 1,100 yards to go along with eight touchdowns — all numbers that blew past his sophomore totals of 25 catches and 473 yards.
On paper, then, it would seem Kiffin prefers to feature a true No. 1.
But that’s not necessarily the case.
“When we have a unique player that, no disrespect to the other guys, but is above the other guys around …” Kiffin said, before shifting to a well-worn Kiffin-ism.
“It’s not like t-ball,” he added. “Everybody doesn’t get to bat around the order.”
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Moore didn’t have any real challengers to his touches.
Drummond did; the Rebels also featured veterans Braylon Sanders and Jonathan Mingo. However, they each battled injuries, leaving Drummond to feast on as many touches as his sure hands could handle.
Sanders has since moved on to the Miami Dolphins. Mingo is back to lead a revamped Ole Miss wideout corps that received myriad reinforcements through the NCAA Transfer Portal and the high school recruiting ranks.
“Our job’s to win games and get the ball to the best players,” Kiffin said. “Drummond’s was an example of some injuries, too. I wouldn’t have predicted that at the beginning of the year with Mingo and Braylon, but both guys were hurt for a lot of the year.
“I probably could have predicted that more with Elijah. When it’s a slot (receiver) doing it, it makes it a lot easier to get him the ball on some run-type stuff.”
Mingo would be the obvious candidate to assume the role of No. 1 for the 2022 Rebels.
But, again, he hasn’t been able to stay on the field consistently, and Ole Miss brought in, among others, UCF’s Jaylon Robinson, Mississippi State’s Malik Heath and Louisville’s Jordan Watkins.
Robinson previously told the Ole Miss Spirit the Rebels pitched (during his spring recruitment) utilizing him much like Moore should the former four-star and Oklahoma Sooner choose them, as he did, over Tennessee, Miami, and TCU.
In his career at UCF, Robinson hauled in 76 passes for 1,329 yards and eight touchdowns.
“The wild card is (Jaylon Robinson) has been hurt for a while, so he hasn’t been doing much at all,” Kiffin said. Ole Miss is in its fourth week of fall camp practices.
“That’s hard when you have a new player that hasn’t been there that you saw for a little bit and have some ideas what you do with him and he’s not out there.”
Second-year slot JJ Henry has impressed in Robinson’s absence.
“JJ Henry’s done awesome,” Kiffin said. “I joked with (Robinson) the other day in the training room, asking him if he had a redshirt year. He was like, ‘Yeah, why?’ I’m like, ‘You sit in here any longer, might want to use your redshirt year the way JJ’s playing.’
“I think that motivated him, because he came out for a little bit (Monday).”
But whether Ole Miss leans heavily on one receiver in particular or more evenly distributes the snaps, Kiffin is encouraged by the group. The Rebels, who are in their fourth week of fall camp practices, open the season against Troy September 3.
“It’s been really good. It’s deeper than it’s been,” Kiffin said. “I bet we already knew at this time the last two years who were the guys and what exactly was the order.”
