Chad Kelly may be back, but his supporting cast is littered with fresh faces
Unquestionably, Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly is the most dangerous passer in the SEC coming into 2016.
Kelly was nothing short of terrific this past season for the Rebels, completing 65.1 percent of his throws and assembling a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 31-to-13. He also ran for 500 yards and 10 more TDs.
However, if he is going to have the same success under center this year, he’ll have to do so with quite a different cast of characters around him in Oxford. His leading rusher, Jaylen Walton, is gone. So are his two leading receivers, Laquon Treadwell and Cody Core. That’s a lot of production needing to be replaced.
Perhaps most important, tackles Laremy Tunsil and Fahn Cooper are no longer there to protect the pocket.
Treadwell and Tunsil in particular were once-in-a-decade talents for a program like Ole Miss, as both left as first-round draft picks. It will take much more than a clichéd next-man-up philosophy to plug those holes.
The leader in every statistical category for the Rebels through the air in 2015, Treadwell caught 82 balls for 1,153 yards and 11 touchdowns. No returning wideout grabbed more than 38 passes. Tunsil wasn’t always in the lineup — due to issues on and off the field — but he built a wall around Kelly’s blind side.
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That being said, if there’s one position where having the premier player truly matters, it’s under center.
“I think we have that conversation every year, and rightfully so, and I do feel like it’s an advantage for us,” coach Hugh Freeze said last Wednesday at SEC Media Days. “However, every year it seems to be another staff that has recruited a kid that we don’t know about or hadn’t talked about or is unproven, and all of a sudden the guy’s a really good player.”
Ideally, Kelly’s big-game experience and NFL-caliber skills will flatten the learning curve for the fresh faces in the huddle. His fleet feet inside and outside the pocket can help mask blocking breakdowns, too.
“There’s no question I’d rather be in our position going into the season than otherwise,” Freeze said. “I like our backups, too, in Shea Patterson and Jason Pellerin. I think those two guys are really good also. There will be somebody that comes out. But quarterback play in this league, if you don’t have good quarterback play, it’s very, very difficult to win games.”
Receivers Quincy Adeboyejo, Damore’ea Stringfellow and Markell Pack all caught between 31 and 38 passes a season ago — along with Derrick Jones, they are experienced upperclassmen. But at least one will have to make the transition from complementary piece to primary weapon with Treadwell now cashing checks.
“I think we have some great wide receivers,” Kelly said. “We got Quincy Adeboyejo, Evan Engram (below), Derrick Jones. We have a whole armful of people, and they are working really hard and understand the offense. They have been in it for a couple of years and are ready to get back at it.”
Credit: Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports
Engram, a preseason All-SEC choice at tight end, will be a short- and intermediate-route security blanket.
“A lot of it is just getting timing down for those wide receivers that are coming in and did not understand what it is like to be a college player,” Kelly said. “Within the past month, they have really grown in the film room and on the field. As long as they can go out and be prepared for how fast the game speed is going and not have to think, as long as we keep working hard, good things will happen.”
Tunsil was part of a loaded 2013 recruiting class for the Rebels and an immediate upgrade in the trenches. Freeze is hoping he struck gold again in Gregory Little, the No. 1 tackle prospect in the country for 2016.
“Even though Little is a freshman, he’s ready-made to start immediately with his size, strength and technique,” said Corey Long, the recruiting analyst for Saturday Down South. “Obviously he’s going to have some growing pains, most likely in the season opener against FSU, but he’s the best option Ole Miss has at tackle. They can give him help with the tight end so he isn’t exposed early.”
As Long mentioned, Ole Miss begins the schedule with a neutral-site game in Orlando against Florida State. “Neutral” is debatable, of course — Oxford is a lot farther away from the Magic Kingdom than Tallahassee. Kelly won’t have the luxury of a Week 1 cupcake coming to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium to work out the kinks.
The Seminoles will be preseason Top 5, with All-American candidate Derwin James patrolling the secondary.
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While a loss to FSU wouldn’t have any effect on Kelly and Co. in the SEC race, he did set some lofty goals for his team this season. At Media Days, he talked about an undefeated run and winning the national title.
Whether or not the Rebels survive the ‘Noles, they only get a one-week breather — FCS foe Wofford at home — before hosting Alabama. Even after being fitted for another ring, the Crimson Tide will be motivated to play in the Magnolia State. Ole Miss has beaten ‘Bama twice in a row for the first time in school history.
However, the Tide don’t have Kelly. Like so many squads in the SEC, they’re still unsettled at quarterback.
Kelly was one of only three QBs invited to The Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover. Tennessee’s Joshua Dobbs is yet to fully develop his arm. Texas A&M’s Trevor Knight is rebuilding his image after transferring from Oklahoma.
Half of the conference — Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi State, Missouri and South Carolina — remains TBA at the game’s most important position. The Crimson Tide and Gators are the defending champs in their respective divisions. Kelly just may be the only sure thing in the league throwing the football.
Three straight Ws over ‘Bama would be unprecedented for Ole Miss, but beating the Tide is all Kelly knows.
John Crist is the senior writer for Saturday Down South. You can send him an e-mail directly at jcrist@saturdaydownsouth.com or follow him on Twitter @SaturdayJC.
