Could Ole Miss be destination for grad transfer Grayson Gunter?

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Grayson Gunter (Photo: Natasha Tucker, 247Sports)
Could Ole Miss be the ultimate destination for Arkansas grad transfer Grayson Gunter?

The 6-6, 243-pound tight end entered the NCAA transfer portal earlier this week. Gunter is a native Mississippian and former standout at Madison Central (Miss.) High School. His father, Bubba Gunter, played football for the Rebels from 1989-1991.

Ole Miss is desperately in need of help at the tight end position, as the only two players to take meaningful snaps at the position last season (Jason Pellerin and Octavious Cooley) have graduated. The Rebels return juniors Jonathan Hess and Alex Faniel, senior D'Vaughn Pennamon and walk-ons Casey Kelly, Nick Haynes, Owen Stayer and Sam Murphey. None have any substantial game experience at tight end. Hess is a former linebacker, Faniel is a converted quarterback and the 5-11 Pennamon shifted to tight end from a crowded running backs room prior to the start of last season.

Chase Rogers transferred to Ole Miss from Louisiana-Lafayette over the summer and is expected to be available in 2020. Rogers had to sit out the 2019 season due to NCAA transfer rules while rehabbing a nagging stress fracture to his right foot. Rogers played in eight games as a true freshman at Louisiana-Lafayette, making two starts. He earned third-team All-Sun Belt Conference honors from some quarters following that 2017 season. His 2018 campaign was cut short due to injury. 

Rogers will have two years of eligibility remaining in his college career.

Exasperating the Rebels' need at the position is that long-time top 2020 tight end target J.J. Pegues, a hometown product out of Oxford High School, signed with Auburn earlier this month. Ole Miss did sign, however, three-star tight end DaMarcus Thomas out of Saraland (Ala.) High School earlier this month.

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Grayson Gunter (Photo: Trey Biddy, 247Sports)

As for Gunter, who will be eligible immediately as a graduate transfer wherever he lands, Ole Miss is to likely be very interested. He played in all 12 games at Arkansas last season as a redshirt junior, making six starts for the Razorbacks. His final stat line included six catches for 55 yards and a touchdown.

During the 2018 season, as a redshirt sophomore, Gunter played in 11 of 12 games with two starts, catching four passes for 51 yards for the Razorbacks. He redshirted during the 2017 season after a true freshman campaign in 2016 in which he played in all 13 games, seeing mostly special teams action.

As a recruit, Gunter signed with Arkansas as a member of the 2016 class. A three-star prospect, he was rated as the nation's No. 56 tight end prospect and the No. 31 player in the state of Mississippi by the industry-generated 247Sports Composite index. His offer sheet included Arkansas, Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Florida Atlantic, Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Monroe, Memphis, Middle Tennessee State, Mississippi State, South Alabama and Tulane. Ole Miss recruited Gunter but never pulled the trigger on an offer.

SOURCE: Johnson, David. "Could Ole Miss be destination for grad transfer Grayson Gunter?" OMSpirit - 247Sports.com, 27 December 2019, https://247sports.com/college/ole-miss/Article/Could-Ole-Miss-be-destination-for-grad-transfer-Grayson-Gunter-141126863/