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Traylon Ray already making his case in stacked Ole Miss WR room

Ben Garrettby: Ben Garrett08/02/25SpiritBen
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Ole Miss wide receiver Traylon Ray (Photo credit: Ole Miss Football/Instagram)

Ole Miss signed West Virginia’s Traylon Ray as one of five receivers from the NCAA Transfer Portal in the off-season.

He arrived in the spring and went through practices, albeit on a limited basis. Ray was in a black, no-contact jersey as he worked his way back from injury. 

He’s fully healthy as Ole Miss pushes towards its 2025-26 season opener against Georgia State on August 30. The Rebels are a week into fall camp practices. Ray has been a standout so far.

“I just wanted to go somewhere where they threw the ball a lot,” Ray said of his transfer decision. “Just were more heavy on their receivers, use their receivers a lot. Ole Miss was perfect for that with their history. I watched them a little bit last year, so that’s really what played a big part into me transferring here.”

Ray is currently running with the second team offense. 

He spent two years at West Virginia and totaled 747 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. Ray finished with 426 receiving yards last season.He has two seasons of eligibility remaining. 

Ole Miss signed the nation’s No. 2 overall portal class. The other receivers brought in were De’Zhaun Stribling (Oklahoma State), Deuce Alexander (Wake Forest), Harrison Wallace (Penn State) and Caleb Odom. 

The Rebels moved Odom to tight end after transfer Luke Hasz suffered an injury that could sideline him until at least October, if not longer.

“We have different talent everywhere,” Ray said. “We’ve got speedsters, we’ve got guys that can go up and make the catch, we’ve got guys that are good with the ball in their hands. So, I feel like we’ve got a good combination of everything in our receiver room.

“You really can’t get any better if you have no competition. I’d rather go somewhere with a receiver room that’s stacked and I get to go in every day knowing I’ve got to put my best foot forward.”

RELATED: Pro Football Focus grades for Ole Miss transfer portal class – Offense

Ray said Austin Simmons played a big role in his decision to choose Ole Miss. 

Simmons is in his first season as the Rebels’ starting quarterback. He’s stepping in for Jaxson Dart, who broke records in his three seasons under center. Dart was a first-round NFL Draft selection of the New York Giants. 

“He was really big,” Ray said. “He’s one of the next best quarterbacks, in my opinion, coming up this year. I got a lot of faith in what he can do.”

Simmons flew out Ray and the rest of his receivers to his hometown of Miami over the summer.

“He took us back home with him and worked out with us a lot here,” Ray said. “You can kind of feel [the chemistry building[ when we were working out together. All the receivers, it’s like a brotherhood in there. Austin, working out with him and building that chemistry, we have full trust in him, just like he has full trust in us.”

Ray could also serve as Ole Miss’ primary kick returner. He took the lone rep in practice on Friday.

“I plan on trying to be the main kickoff returner,” Ray said. “It’ll look better trying to get drafted and stuff like that.”

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