Ad Disclosure
In 2013, Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze brought four five-star and seven four-star recruits to Oxford for what was a historic Rebels recruiting class.
The quartet of five stars — defensive lineman Robert Nkemdiche, offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil, wide receiver Laquon Treadwell and defensive back Tony Conner — have all played crucial roles for Ole Miss the last two years. They’re now juniors soon facing the decision to return to school or enter the NFL.
But they aren’t the only members of the Rebels’ 2013 class that have become major contributors.
Former four-star quarterback Ryan Buchanan and former three-star quarterback DeVante Kincade both found themselves competing with Chad Kelly for the starting job this season. Although Kelly has been named the starter, Buchanan and Kincade both saw plenty of action in the Rebels’ first two games and could see more moving forward in certain situations.
Wide receiver Quincy Adeboyejo and tight end Evan Engram were both three-star recruits out of the 2013 class that have emerged as starters. Engram has turned into one of the best tight ends in college football, period, and Adeboyejo has been finding the end zone early and often so far this season.
Fadol Brown, unrated because he transferred from Florida International in 2013, is now an impactful starter on the Rebels’ stout defensive front.
As mentioned before, several players from this vaunted class will be playing on Sundays next year, while others return for their senior seasons. But regardless of which players do what, it appears this will be the 2013 recruiting class’ last season all together in Oxford.
As a result, we decided to follow the members of the 2013 class and how they play throughout the Rebels’ season by noting standout performances from them. Here’s how they did in the Rebels’ Week 3 upset win against Alabama:
ROBERT NKEMDICHE, DL
The Rebels desperately wanted to get Nkemdiche in the end zone for the third straight week, but Alabama was having none of it, stuffing him on his only goal-line carry from the 1-yard line. Ole Miss also tried throwing a screen to Nkemdiche for a 2-point conversion, but the All-American defensive lineman failed to catch the ball.
But defense is where Nkemdiche is going to make a living, and he showed why against the Crimson Tide. Nkemdiche blew up Alabama’s plays in the backfield all game long, finishing with 6 tackles, 2.5 for a loss and a half sack.
LAREMY TUNSIL, LT
Tunsil was held out of this game due to an ongoing NCAA investigation regarding alleged contact between Tunsil and agents. This was the third game in a row that Tunsil was held out for this reason.
Freeze has not yet said whether Tunsil will play in the Rebels’ fourth game against Vanderbilt, and made it clear that he has nothing to do with the NCAA’s investigative process.
LAQUON TREADWELL, WR
Treadwell is slowly but surely working his way back to being one of college football’s elite wide receivers. After two lackluster performances in the Rebels’ first two games of the season against inferior teams, Treadwell saved his first impact performance of 2015 for the crucial game against Alabama.
He finished the game with five receptions for 80 yards, including a 24-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter that sealed the deal for the Rebels. Treadwell’s touchdown not only came at the perfect time, but it was also a thing of beauty as he out-jumped his defender to win the battle for the ball.
JORDAN WILKINS, RB
Wilkins was out-carried by starter Jaylen Walton but proved to be the more effective runner and had a critical touchdown for Ole Miss against the Crimson Tide.
Wilkins picked up 39 yards on 7 carries and was able to score on a jet sweep in the second quarter to give the Rebels their first touchdown of the game. What’s even better is that Wilkins’ touchdown run to the outside came on fourth-and-1 after Alabama had stuffed three consecutive attempts up the middle.
QUINCY ADEBOYEJO, WR
Adeboyejo continues to impress this season and looks to be one of Kelly’s favorite targets. He caught two balls for 71 yards, including a touchdown that was the play of the day in all of sports, against Alabama.
Adeboyejo now has 10 catches on the season, five for TDs. He also currently sits at second on the team in receiving yards with 224.
Tony Conner, DB
This unfortunately will be the last time we’re able to write about Conner in this series for a little while because the talented defensive back tore his meniscus against Alabama and is expected to be out at least four weeks.
But before being injured in the game against the Crimson Tide, Conner had 6 tackles, tied for second-most on the team, including one for a loss.
Evan Engram, TE
Not exactly sure why Engram has had such little involvement in the Ole Miss passing game so far this season, but perhaps Kelly is just one of those quarterbacks that’s inclined to throw to receivers more than tight ends.
Engram only has 2 receptions for 27 yards through three games. He caught 1 pass for 22 yards against the Crimson Tide.
Fadol Brown, DE
Brown had 2 tackles and 2 quarterback hurries against Alabama, which helped open things up for Nkemdiche and the rest of the Rebels’ front seven.
Now it’s even more important for him and Nkemdiche to be a dominant pair moving forward with the injury to Conner in the secondary.
Pat Donohue is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Follow him on Twitter @SportsDownPat.
