With the fourth-ranked 2016 recruiting class in the country and the second-ranked class in the Southeastern Conference, this cycle has yet again been very kind to Hugh Freeze and the Ole Miss Rebels, who continue to build their roster to a championship level.

With that, here are several key questions (and answers) as we are one week from National Signing Day.

How does this class compare to the 2013 Ole Miss class, which will likely produce at least three first-round NFL draft picks?

Well, a more accurate comparison can be made several years from now, but I can tell you that top-to-bottom on paper I think this class has more overall potential.

The 2013 class provided a foundation for the Rebels to go from a Birmingham Bowl-type team to a New Years Six Bowl team as we’ve seen the last two years. This class has get-over-the-hump-and-win-the-SEC-West potential, which one would think also means the potential to put Ole Miss in contention for the College Football Playoff.

The reason may boil down to this — Shea Patterson is one of the top quarterback prospects in the country. That position is highly critical as we all know and given the talent Ole Miss has and will assemble around him, Patterson could lead the Rebels to heights unknown for several decades. He’s got to go out and do it, of course, but the potential is there.

What has impressed you the most about this Rebels class so far?

At present, Ole Miss has more five-star prospects (247Sports Composite rankings) committed/enrolled than any other program in the country. Now, there are several uncommitted five-star prospects out there for sure and it may or may not end up that way, but that’s impressive to me and what’s more impressive is that they’ve come from different spots.

Patterson is a Louisiana native and is coming from IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., offensive tackle Greg Little is from Allen, Texas, and then there’s defensive tackle Benito Jones from right there in the Magnolia State. In-state defensive end Jeffery Simmons, California linebacker Mique Juarez and even the No. 1 overall prospect in the country, Rashan Gary from New Jersey, are still in-play as we head down the stretch. All are five-star prospects.

How good is the Ole Miss staff at making evaluations beyond the no-brainer talent?

This is something that isn’t talked about enough — the fact that Freeze and company not only are good at landing the “on the radar” prospects but they can also evaluate the non-no brainer types. Guys like Evan Engram, Marquise Haynes and Mike Hilton were All-SEC players for Ole Miss and none of the three had higher than a three-star rating out of high school.

In this class, I really like the potential of Tariqious Tisdale, the big defensive lineman out of West Tennessee and junior college linebacker David Luafatasaga.

Will the Rebels haul in some of the national five-stars at the end?

The class is a success even if the Rebels get no further commits. But, I think if Ole Miss gets one of the three five-stars people are talking about (Simmons, Gary, Juarez), it’s great news.

If the Rebels land two of those three, it’s a huge upset and if they happen to sweep all three, it’s one of the greatest finishes in the history of modern recruiting coverage. With that, my expectation is that they get one (Simmons is the most likely) and the other two head elsewhere, but it isn’t as if Ole Miss didn’t give them a run.