What to expect as Ole Miss football begins spring practice

Nearly three months removed from its Sugar Bowl loss, Ole Miss is ready to turn the page and begin working towards the 2022 season with the start of spring practice on Tuesday.

As was expected there was turnover on both sides of the ball, mostly on offense, with several players heading to the NFL Draft and others simply just out of eligibility.

The recruiting cycle and transfer portal has brought some excitement and seemingly filled some of those holes left, on paper at least. Now over the next four weeks it is time to see if these new players brought in can walk the walk.

Let the Quarterback ‘Battle’ Begin

Maybe there will be more of a competition than most anticipate but with the arrival of Jaxson Dart from Southern California as one of head coach Lane Kiffin’s highly valued portal gets it leads to the thought that Kiffin and his staff would not have gone to all that effort to just potentially land a clipboard holder.

Luke Altmyer will get his chance over the next four weeks but Dart is probably the QB1 if there is a spring depth chart.

The quest to replace Matt Corral as the Rebels new signal caller seems over before it starts on the field, but Kiffin will probably give heavy dose of the reps to both Altmyer and Dart.

Logic would say that Altmyer would have an edge over Dart if Jeff Lebby was still here and the same offense installed. But Lebby is now at Oklahoma and Charlie Weis, Jr. is now a co-offensive coordinator along with John David Baker.

A new, or mostly new system means a clean slate for both Dart and Altmyer. Both will be under center for the Grove Bowl but during the next four weeks of practice it will be interesting to see how soon Dart is the one taking reps with the rest of the 1s, as expected.

A Rebuilt Running Back Group

The Rebels lost their top three to four rushers with the departures of Corrall, Jerrion Ealy, Snooper Conner and Henry Parrish, Jr.

Kiffin turned to the portal and looked to have come away two players that are more than up to the challenge in replacing all that production lost.

Former TCU running back Zach Evans was the first to make Oxford his new home and seemingly becoming the Rebels new starter. In two years with the Horned Frogs, Evans appeared in 15 games and racked up a total of 1,063 rushing yards on 146 attempts — good for a career average of 7.3 yards per carry — and nine rushing touchdowns.

Then last week the Rebels received more good news with the commitment from Ulysses Bentley IV. The former SMU running back rushed for 1,523 yards and 15 touchdowns the last two seasons.

A duo of Evans and Bentley provides experience at the top of the running backs room but also mixes in with returners Kentrell Bullock and Isaiah Woullard along with the incoming high school signees. Getting these four weeks of extra reps ahead of the summer workouts and fall camp should only bolster the group.

Can the Defense Continue its Success?

One of the major stories as the 2021 season rolled along was the turnaround of the Rebels defense. It was not perfect by any means but from where it was two seasons ago it was a vast improvement.

A lot of that success was due to the play of Sam Williams and Chance Campbell, both of whom are now working towards playing in the NFL. But there are still plenty of pieces in Oxford and coming in from the portal and high school signings.

One thing to watch over the four weeks in spring is how co-defensive coordinators Chris Partridge and Maurice Crum gel and what kind of system they create heading into the fall.

Crum is the replacement of Chris Kiffin who came back to Oxford for barely a cup of coffee before returning to the Cleveland and the NFL. Kiffin was replacing D.J. Durkin who left for the same position at Texas A&M.

The offense has the individual players to watch throughout spring but the defense as a whole will be fun to see how it can maintain its momentum from a few months ago.