Greg McElroy expects ‘no drop off’ for Ole Miss offense with Austin Simmons at QB
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Greg McElroy isn’t scared that life without Jaxson Dart will suddenly make Ole Miss football irrelevant in 2025.
In fact, the ESPN college football analyst is going the opposite way when discussing Lane Kiffin’s program this fall. Kiffin has gone 44-18 in his first 5 seasons in Oxford, but all those victories and the solid 25-16 SEC record haven’t translated into that coveted first spot in the College Football Playoff. The Rebels are still searching for that elusive Playoff bid, and McElroy believes it’s not out of the question that it could happen this season even with Austin Simmons as a first-year starter.
Simmons is in his 3rd year in Kiffin’s program, and he did fill in nicely for Dart albeit briefly in the big home win over Georgia last November, so it’s not like Simmons is a true freshman. But he will be stepping in for a former star in Dart, who won a lot of games, threw for a lot of yards and is now in the NFL with the New York Giants.
Still, McElroy isn’t backing off his belief that Ole Miss will be just fine this fall, telling his audience just that on his Always College Football podcast.
“There is a lot to like about what they have offensively. What I love is their firepower. Austin Simmons is going to be thrust into the starting lineup. Guys, I’m not at all concerned about this young man’s talent. I think he’s well-equipped to step right in and not have there be any drop off at all at the quarterback spot. I think people are sleeping on Ole Miss’s weapons,” said McElroy.
Here is the full video of McElroy’s take on Ole Miss:
No. – @OleMissFB @GregMcElroy is "not at all concerned" with new Rebels QB Austin Simmons and thinks Ole Miss will once again be a player in the SEC #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/J6nv3uNEUg
— Always College Football (@AlwaysCFB) August 13, 2025
We’ll know by December whether McElroy’s strong belief in Ole Miss was warranted or whether Dart’s absence was felt this fall.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
