OXFORD, Miss. — Some of the big names of Ole Miss’ last two highly regarded classes wasted no time making their marks in the Rebels’ Monday scrimmage, the first of the fall camp.
One was true freshman receiver D.K. Metcalf.
“D.K. Metcalf continues to show up in one-on-one situations,” Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze said. “He’s so big and strong for a freshman. He doesn’t have to win the route by a large margin to have a chance to have success.”
Metcalf was a four-star All-American from local Oxford High. He is listed on the roster at 6-foot-4, 217 pounds. He was a go-up-and-get-it receiver in high school who could muscle his way to a catch with one or two hands.
He is part of a receiving corps that got much deeper with his signing as well as A.J. Brown and Tré Nixon. Freeze said a couple of years ago there is no doubt he would play a big role as a freshman.
“He may play this year,” Freeze said. “He keeps showing up.”
One of the guys trying to stop him from making plays in practice is on the shelf for now. Junior DB C.J. Moore had surgery this week to repair a torn pec muscle. Moore was listed at No. 2 Rover on the first depth chart. His timetable is to be determined and he has a redshirt possibility. Freeze said they haven’t juggled a lot with the news, but freshman running back Jarrion Street has moved to a safety spot.
Freshman DB Deontay Anderson had a couple of picks in the red zone, adding more promise to a promising young secondary.
“The older guys are setting a great example,” redshirt freshman DB Montrell Custis said. “We call ourselves the young savages. We know one day it’s going to be our secondary. We’re just taking it a step at a time.”
Anderson is 6-foot-1, 217 pounds. That’s what Freeze likes most about him.
“We need bigger safeties in this league. He and Street (6-foot-2, 207 pounds) both look like two SEC safeties back there,” Freeze said. “There are a lot of things they’ve got to learn, so let’s don’t rush them. Let’s don’t project them to be there yet, but I sure like the way they look.”
Freeze also had praise for how the offensive line is coming along, the biggest freshman name there being five-star Greg Little.
Freeze was surprised but pleased, saying the offense got the better of the defense in the scrimmage. Senior linebacker Terry Caldwell wasn’t so sure.
“Uh, for the first half,” Caldwell said, then smiled. “For the second half, the defense picked it up. We had a few missed assignments and a few missed tackles at first.”
A freshman popped up in the running back chatter as well. D’Vaughn Pennamon had been taking a back seat to Akeem Judd and Jordan Wilkins, and to redshirt freshman Eric Swinney.
“D’Vaughn Pennamon keeps showing up,” Freeze said. “Very physical, runs downhill, hits the hole well, has good vision.”
