Chad Kelly led the SEC in passing yards in 2015. Laquon Treadwell led the SEC in receiving yards. Treadwell went off to Minnesota via the NFL Draft and left Kelly back in Oxford loaded with expectations to be better than the team they led to a dominant Sugar Bowl win over Oklahoma State.

Being better than the best in the SEC in passing may seem to be a daunting task but looking down the roster of talent Kelly has at his disposal, the Rebels could do it for a second straight season.

Pending how true freshman left tackle Greg Little pans out for a new offensive line, Kelly has what could turn out to be the nation’s best group of receivers and a first-round tight end selection in 2017.

2015 STATS AND SEC RANK

Passing yards per game: 4,351 (first)
Passing TDs: 35 (first)
INTs: 14 (11th)

QB PLAY

Kelly couldn’t have written a better script for his first season in Oxford. He threw for an SEC-best 4,042 yards on 298 of 458 attempts with 31 touchdowns to also lead the conference.

He became the first Rebel to win Sugar Bowl MVP since Archie Manning in 1970. He led the SEC in passing with 310.9 yards per game (10th in the nation) and total offense at 349.4 yards per game (seventh in the nation). He broke or tied 14 school records.

Even with some unfamiliarity returning on the offensive line – all five Sugar Bowl starters are gone – Kelly has three of his top pass-catchers back, all who return with at least 450 yards receiving and a combined 14 touchdowns. Kelly led the team in rushing touchdowns with 10, the most by an Ole Miss QB since Manning’s 14 in 1969.

The quarterback position is familiar and stable. All Kelly is competing to do is surpass the marks his team set a season ago.

RECEIVERS/TES/RBS

Losing Treadwell can’t be understated. Losing Cody Core in the draft’s sixth round will take a toll, too, but the Rebels have stockpiled a dangerous group of receivers. Quincy Adeboyejo is a senior whose talent has taken a welcomed shadow to Treadwell. It’s his turn to take the leadership role, along with the other senior of the group, Derrick Jones.

Junior Damore’ea Stringfellow, a Washington transfer, caught 36 passes last season for 503 yards and 5 touchdowns (third on the team). Adeboyejo is the leading returning catcher via yardage with 604 and 7 touchdowns. Then, there are top 2015 recruits Van Jefferson and Damarkus Lodge. Both have dynamic highlight potential, and Jefferson opened a lot of eyes in the spring after redshirting as a freshman.

Not to mention the Rebels signed two of Mississippi’s top receivers in A.J. Brown and DeKaylin Metcalf.

Tight end Evan Engram put off the draft after catching 38 balls for 464 yards and 2 touchdowns in 2015. His sure-handed ability and knack for breaking tackles could make Engram the nation’s most dangerous tight end.

At running back, junior Jordan Wilkins and senior Akeem Judd should provide the bigger backs the Rebels have been missing while still dominating the SEC through the air last season.

PLAY-CALLING

Ole Miss was 10th in the country last season with 334.7 passing yards per game. A ton of that success came on first down. The Rebels completed 143 of 214 attempts on first down and threw 15 touchdowns to five interceptions.

That was a tie with second down for touchdowns, although the five picks were the most thrown on any down. The first down stats show Ole Miss isn’t hesitant to go downfield, racking up 76 more first downs, as well as 53 plays of at least 15 yards and 21 plays of at least 25 yards.

One stat that could change is how much the Rebels throw with a lead of at least 15 points. With no size in the backfield, they fired off 134 passes with a two-touchdown lead or more.

ONE STAT THAT MUST IMPROVE

Kelly is a gunslinger and never hesitates to release the ball in traffic. He threw 13 interceptions. Only former Kentucky QB Patrick Towles threw more. With a new offensive line and without teams having to stress over how many guys to put on Treadwell, Kelly has to trim that number, especially with Florida State, Alabama and Georgia in the first month of the schedule.

GREATEST CONCERN

The greatest concern has to be the offensive line. Greg Little is clearly a great high school tackle, No. 1 at the position in the country according to 247Sports and the No. 3 overall player in the country. He may very well be the NFL first-rounder he is already prematurely picked to be.

That said, he will be a freshman anchoring a line that lost all starting linemen from the Sugar Bowl. The good news is Kelly has a ton of options to throw to and two backs that have some size (Judd is 5-foot-11, 222 pounds and Wilkins is 6-foot-1, 214 pounds) to help create some holes.

It may be good or bad news that the Rebels open with Florida State’s smothering defense on Labor Day and get only a week of reprieve against Wofford before hosting Alabama and Georgia. Not passing enough tests by the time angry Alabama arrives to avenge back-to-back losses would be more than concerning.

BETTER OR WORSE

It’s tough to get better than the best, and that’s what Ole Miss was in yards, yards per game and touchdowns in the SEC.

However, there is room for improvement in interceptions, possibly knocking the 14 down to single digits. Only five SEC teams had fewer than 10 picks last season.

The Rebels lost a big part of the personnel that ranked them atop the SEC in Treadwell and Core, but Engram wasn’t used as much as his potential proclaims. He caught the same number of balls as his sophomore year and had nearly 200 fewer yards.

Again, it’s dependent on the offensive line, which after seeing Florida State expose its strengths and weaknesses, should know what to fix and what to leave be. However, Ole Miss should pick up where it left off and air it out efficiently. The quarterback is there. The receivers are there. A first-round NFL tight end is there, and there is finally some size in the backfield.

Ole Miss has the toughest September of any school in America. Surviving the first month will be key. If the Rebels come out with more bruises than blood, they will be even better through the air in 2016.