When Ole Miss Football Returns: The Quarterbacks



Spring training is when coaches – especially new coaches – get to know and get a feel for the talents and abilities of their players.

It’s a critical part of the evaluation process and the team-building process.

April was supposed to have been the time when Lane Kiffin and his brand spanking new Ole Miss staff figured out the foundation of their team, sorted out some leadership, developed a preliminary depth chart and started to understand the strengths and weaknesses of every individual player, every unit and the team.

Now, with spring having been cancelled and little time for evaluation when football does pick back up, one wonders if a staff – repeat, especially a new staff – will have time to do a thorough dive into some of the deeper positions.

Take the Ole Miss quarterback position, for instance.

A case could be made that all five candidates would be – under normal circumstances – considered legitimate to make a run at the top spot or top backup if a full allotment of practices had been available and all players had gotten equal practice reps.

But with time restraints, the odds are the offensive coaches are going to have to make some quick, tough decisions on how to divide practice reps and the most likely to get the bulk will be sophomores John Rhys Plumlee and Matt Corral.

While not discounting the raw ability of the other three – RS freshmen Grant Tisdale and Kinkead Dent and true freshman Kade Renfro, it says here the odds are the coaches will have to put most of their eggs in the baskets of Plumlee and Corral in order to get a quarterback ready for the season.

Learning the offense properly will take repetition and the coaches will most likely not be able to give equal distribution of the limited reps they will have before the season begins, hence going with the experienced players just make common sense.

So let’s assume – yes, we know about assuming – that theory holds true and it’s already a two-man race. Who wins it?

That opens things up for discussion as well.

Based on what we have seen from offenses Kiffin and OC Jeff Lebby have run in the past at Alabama, UCF, Baylor, FAU, et al, Corral would seem to have an edge due to him being the more proficient passer. Last year’s OC, Rich Rodriguez, changed his style mid-stream to accommodate Plumlee – a running QB, but we look for Kiffin and Lebby to stick with what got them here – a tried and true system – and find the best personnel to run it.

In short, the system may favor Corral, but he has to learn how to play within a system and he also has to learn to have confidence in his ability to run the football, which is better than folks believe.

There is no question, however, that Plumlee brings value – a lot of value – to the offense. He could have some packages designed for him and his particular skill set or he could slide into the lineup at different positions, slot receiver for instance.

Does he seem capable of playing some slot receiver? Plumlee appears to be an athlete who can handle a lot of duties. How valuable would a player like that be to any offense? Immensely.

But there’s also another aspect to this. What if Plumlee’s passing improves? What if he becomes a better thrower? We really didn’t get to see a big dose of that part of his game last year because he was so effective running the ball. Who knows how well he can throw the football? How much of his perceived passing woes last year were simply a lack of knowledge of where to go with the ball based on inexperience and not a physical deficiency?

So basically, whoever improves their weaknesses the most will probably win the starting job. Or so it seems.

But to dismiss Tisdale or Dent of Renfro so easily is not fair to them or the coaches or the competition factor of football practice.

Tisdale entered the transfer portal but opted to come back when a new staff that seems to run an offense that would utilize his skills more was hired. He has certainly had an extensive look at his competition and that didn’t scare him off permanently. He must have confidence that he can compete with all comers or else why come back?

Dent and Renfro, like Tisdale, may just be caught in a numbers game, but Dent showed up well in last year’s Grove Bowl and Lebby really liked Renfro from the jump of recruiting and thinks he has a bright future. How quickly may be the right question to ask.

Dent needs to work on his throwing accuracy – he’s got a strong arm – and gain some weight and experience. Renfro is starting from scratch, so he may need a redshirt to get his feet wet and get adjusted to the whole scope of things on this level.

Certainly, a lot of this piece is conjecture, but one thing is certain – with the newness of everything around these five candidates, it will be fun to watch the competition and everything develop. . . .

. . . . when Ole Miss football returns.


SOURCE: Rounsaville, Chuck. "When Ole Miss Football Returns: The Quarterbacks." OMSpirit.com - 247Sports.com, 28 April 2020, https://247sports.com/college/ole-miss/Article/When-Ole-Miss-Football-Returns-The-Quarterbacks-146571388/