Without question, Ole Miss has become synonymous with the transfer portal over the last few years because of rankings, quantity of players and eventually results from most of those players. That said, Ole Miss also secured a fourth consecutive top-20 high school signing class, despite being considered middle-of-the-road by SEC standards.
Ole Miss' 2024 signing class ranked No. 17 by 247Sports and No. 21 by the industry-generated composite index. Glancing at the list of signees, defense was the name of the game when it was all said and done.
The Rebels signed Mississippi's No. 1 high school defensive player for the second consecutive season in Houston (Miss.) defensive tackle William Echoles and also cornered the state's market with defensive linemen such as Kam Franklin (Lake Cormorant, Miss.), Jeffery Rush (Pascagoula, Miss.) and Kamron Beavers (Bay Springs, Miss.). All of those aforementioned players were four-star prospects in the 2024 class. Additionally, the Rebels added the likes of top in-state receiver Noreel White (Ocean Springs, Miss.) and three-star athletes Travaris Banks and Anthony Robinson from out-of-state just to name a few.
However,the situation they all have walked into can seem pretty daunting on the surface, from a playing time standpoint.
Ole Miss is near unanimously ranked in the top-10 in a number of preseason polls because of all the key veteran pieces returning from an 11-2 season and by bringing in the nation's top-ranked transfer portal class this offseason. All of the above have had multiple years of experience at the major college level, so it's natural to assume immediate playing time for them. But what about those that have yet to play a college game? After all, Lane Kiffin made it clear immediately after taking the Ole Miss job that spots will be filled regardless of ranking, scholarship and even age, stating simply that the best players will play.
Many of those freshman players named above enrolled at Ole Miss in the spring, so they've added a good couple months of system learning during that time, while taking everything else in. Compared to many years over the last decade, there's a fairly sizable experience gap between true freshmen and the other seasoned players who are either seniors or beyond. But as a previously proclaimed "player-led" program, these true freshman will get to learn a lot more from a number of future NFL players whether they stay the course or go elsewhere.
"It's nice when you have older veteran guys that have been in the system and know the expectation and the culture to buy into. It's cool to watch them take in these young cats and coaching them up. We're in a good spot with that," Ole Miss defensive coordinator Pete Golding said.
A handful of true freshmen such as Echoles and Franklin have been seen taking second-team reps on the defensive line throughout fall camp thus far. Roles are starting to be formed for some of those freshmen on defense.
"I was really excited about this freshman class," Golding said. "We got a lot of them at the break. Kam Franklin had an excellent spring and we're excited where he's at, William Echoles is exactly who we thought he was. He can be a really dominant player at this level, but how much we'll see. He can have a role and help us. T.J. (Travaris Banks) has really flashed as a long corner, a size-speed guy, instinctive, he's played corner and bumped inside to play nickel and dime on third down. Those three for sure have really stood out, but we love this class."
On the offensive side of the ball, Noreel White was a popular name in the spring for how he's stood out in an already ridiculously loaded room of receivers. But offensively, time will tell whichtrue freshman will get consistent game action right away.
"I think it's still early to tell for that. A lot of new guys are just now getting into the fold right now. It's certainly a talented group that's exciting, but I think it's just early to tell who's going to make an instant impact for us, but we have time to figure that out," Ole Miss offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. said.
Inside the Rebels will be back on the practice field on Monday, Aug. 12. Later this month, Ole Miss will open its highly anticipated 2024 season againstFurmaninside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 31. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. CT and can be streamed on ESPN+/SECN+.
