Is there really a quarterback competition?
Was there ever really one at all, and should you be surprised who starts on for Ole Miss on Saturday?
Ole Miss is now into game week prep for its season opener against Mercer on Saturday. At his first Monday press conference of the year, Lane Kiffin said that he was not ready to name a starting quarterback yet.
“We’ve not made that final decision. We are very excited about all of the guys,” Kiffin said. “Both guys played extremely well (in the scrimmage) on Saturday and made explosive plays. We are very confident in either one.”
This is a storyline that shouldn’t be completely surprising at surface level, but it’s one that’s been interpreted and discussed differently than last year in the sense that there has seemingly been a lack of discussion surrounding it. I think this speaks to the perceived legitimacy, or lack thereof, surrounding it, as opposed to 2022.
Last year, we all frequently debated Jaxson Dart versus Luke Altmyer. Dart offered more upside, but the Mississippi kid Altmyer, was more consistent. The competition extended into the regular season, with each contestant starting a game before the Rebels faced their first true test at Georgia Tech. Would steadiness or potential win out? Two years prior to that, in Kiffin’s first season, there was at least some discussion at the beginning of camp whether Matt Corral or John Rhys Plumlee would be the Rebels’ starting quarterback. On September 3, 2020, three weeks before the team’s game (Covid delayed the season three weeks), a CBS college football analyst declared that Ole Miss would be one of the SEC’s most underrated offenses because of John Rhys Plumlee running Lane Kiffin’s offense.
Now, in fairness, at the time that this mindlessly-lazy take was spewed on national television, most Ole Miss fans who closely follow the program knew that Corral was likely to be the starter. But the point still remains, there hasn’t be a lot of chatter or debate about who should, or will be, the team’s starting quarterback between Dart and Oklahoma State transfer Spencer Sanders, and I guess, if you want to be inclusive, LSU transfer Walker Howard — the presumed quarterback of the future. I’ve yet to see any columns written about why X player is the man for the job.
Why is that the case? Perhaps it’s because there is seemingly an illusion of a quarterback competition — with the purpose to motivate a returning starter — rather than a true competition.
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A portal addition that made sense and another that made less sense
The headlines Ole Miss made in the offseason were primarily centered around the talent it attracted in the transfer portal, as has been the case for the last couple of years under Lane Kiffin. Similar to last year, when Jaxson Dart announced his intention to transfer to the Rebels, the quarterback position became the biggest storyline of this offseason. Except this year, Ole Miss added two high-profile quarterbacks. The timeline of those two additions and what has since transpired through the spring and into preseason camp has been enlightening, at times somewhat confusing, but ultimately confirmed what I (and many others) presumed to be the case.
From the time the initial 2023 portal window closed in February, I’ve struggled to understand the reasoning for Spencer Sanders’ arrival at Ole Miss and his role within the program. It was obvious entering the offseason that the Rebels needed to add at least one quarterback (and probably two) to the roster as Luke Altmyer and Kinkead Dent entered the portal. Ole Miss needed more scholarship quarterbacks. More simply put, it needed more bodies in the quarterback room.
The Rebels’ courtship of 4-star prospect Marcel Reed faded in late December as the early signing period approached. Reed signed with Texas A&M and it became clear that the additions to the quarterback room would come through the portal. Sanders and Howard, quickly emerged as realistic targets. Both made sense on an individual level. At the time, I wondered if it were an either/or situation. Howard committed on January 18. A rising redshirt freshman and former 5-star prospect with four years of eligibility remaining, Ole Miss landing Howard made all the sense in the world and was a massive pickup, as well as a significant piece of evidence to Kiffin’s 'building depth through the portal’ theory. The uber-talented Howard could pose a mild threat to unseat Dart in the spring, but in all likelihood, sit behind the entrenched starter for a year while being groomed to be the quarterback of the future. Even with Howard joining the program, Ole Miss still needed one more scholarship quarterback to provide adequate depth to round out the position group.
The Sanders buzz didn’t dissolve after Howard’s January pledge to Ole Miss. In fact, Sanders announced his commitment the next day. The juxtaposition of the two quarterbacks’ arrival at Ole Miss and their individual paths to Oxford couldn’t be more starkly different. Sanders, who has one year of eligibility left, was a four-year starter at Oklahoma State. He won Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 2019 and was voted first team All-Big 12 in 2021 before injuries derailed his 2022 season.
But not all quarterback additions are created, perceived or valued equally. Ole Miss could’ve added an experienced quarterback from a group-of-five or FCS school as an insurance policy and still felt pretty good about depth at the position in 2023. Kiffin didn’t do that (not a criticism), and it temporarily created a puzzling but fascinating dynamic.
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Why did Sanders leave Oklahoma State?
The 2022 season was a frustrating one for Sanders and Oklahoma State. On the heels of a 12-2 campaign in 2021 — a year in which the Cowboys were a last-second loss to Baylor in the Big 12 Championship away from likely earning a College Football Playoff berth — Oklahoma State went 7-6 and lost six of its last eight games. A shoulder injury Sanders suffered in a late October loss to Kansas State caused him to miss the next game. He battled through it for two games after that, a win over Iowa State and a loss to Oklahoma, but was ultimately sidelined for the team’s season finale, a loss to West Virginia, and did not participate in Oklahoma State’s bowl game loss to Wisconsin.
In late January, I had Scott Wright, Oklahoma State beat writer for The Oklahoman newspaper, on the podcast, shortly after Sanders announced his commitment to Ole Miss. When asked if Sanders’ departure came as a surprise to people within the Oklahoma State football program, Wright described it as “50-50,” with some being more surprised he didn’t declare for the NFL Draft. Wright also said Sanders butted heads with Cowboys offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn — who was promoted to the position before Sanders’ sophomore year after spending the previous nine seasons on Mike Gundy’s staff in various roles — as well as other members of the coaching staff.
Wright described Sanders as intensely competitive and said that the frustration of a six-loss season ate at him. Oklahoma State’s offensive line struggled to block, which hindered the running game and left Sanders vulnerable, which took a physical toll on him.
Why would Spencer Sanders want to come to Ole Miss?
Players in a similar situation to the one that Sanders found himself in last winter — a decorated starter at a Power Five program looking for a fresh start in his final year of eligibility — usually land at a place at which becoming the starting quarterback is a virtual guarantee, or at the very least, a path with little resistance.
If you’re Sanders, why choose a program with a returning starter that just landed its quarterback of the future, too? If the name of the game is to ensure you’re on the field in your final season of college football, rather than holding a clipboard, the path he chose always seemed like an adverse gamble. Perhaps he believed he is the best quarterback of the three and didn’t view it as a risky path. Maybe he was told certain things while he was recruited by the coaching staff. Both seem like plausible, and to be, crystal clear, hypothetical reasons.
Maybe his options weren’t as abundant as we all assumed a player of his stature would have. I am of the educated opinion that Sanders’ academic standing at least somewhat shrunk his list of possible transfer destinations. But even then, there were plenty of power five programs looking for a starting quarterback last winter, with less competition impeding the path, than what was available at Ole Miss. Through an outside lens, Sanders’ choice was puzzling, which makes me pretty confident in my belief that we, as fans, media and consumers, never saw all of the pieces of the proverbial puzzle.
“It’s a good (quarterback) battle. Dart is a talented player. So is Walker Howard.” Sanders said back in late February, in his first press conference as a Rebel. “There is a lot of opportunity here. Kiffin is a smart coach. Coach Weis is very smart. We’ve got good players. We’ve got a good team.”
Sanders even acknowledged that Dart had the upper hand, given his knowledge of the offense. Once again, on the surface, the decision made little sense at the time and remains the case today.
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Why did the Portal King create this dynamic?
This question reinforces why I believe that initial instinct often bears the most correct answer. We’ve discussed ad nauseam how Kiffin has leaned on the transfer portal as hard as any coach in the sport when it comes to constructing a roster and building depth. He’s been adamant that the latter can be done through the portal, that high school recruiting isn’t the lone source of building depth. The quarterback position isn’t viewed the same as others in terms of depth. I don’t think you’ll find a single coach who believes that having too many game-ready defensive and offensive linemen, linebackers, defensive backs, receivers and running backs is a real problem. It’s not. Depth is a scarcely-afforded luxury in this sport. Quarterback depth is as important as any other position. Having a capable backup is a luxury. Ohio State won a national title in 2014 with a third string quarterback that became a star in Cardale Jones.
While quarterback depth is important, building it, at least in some respect, is different from other positions. You can only play one at a time, and in a perfect world, the starter will play every snap of every game. It’s the most important position on the field. With that comes (mostly warranted) inflated egos and an increased focus on individual success while seeking the quickest path to playing time. In this wild transfer portal-era college football exists in, quarterback movement is at the epicenter of all the player movement. It’s why Howard left LSU. It’s why Dart left USC. Building depth at quarterback through the transfer portal is not a bad thing, but it comes with an increased risk of bruised egos and frustration, which often breeds mass-attrition at a position at which stability is crucial.
Dart showed promise in what I would categorize as a pretty good 2022 season for a 19-year-old true sophomore. Was it overwhelmingly dominant? Of course not. Was it, in a vacuum, enough to retain his title as starting quarterback without an open competition? That’s debatable.
Headed into spring practice, I wondered what message bringing in Sanders, in addition to Howard, sent to Dart? Was it one of distrust in his abilities? I have no clue, but Dart wouldn’t be wrong to feel that way. This isn’t to suggest Dart’s feelings were hurt or he was shaken by it. His play in spring suggested the polar opposite.
College football is a talent acquisition business. It’s clear Kiffin views quarterback no differently than the other 21 positions. He wants to acquire as many assets as possible at all 22 positions. Opting against adding an All-Big-12 signal caller with four years of experience to avoid frustrating his current starter doesn’t seem like a wise move.
“The goal is to improve depth at every position,” Kiffin said in March. “If there was some rating of the quality of the (QB) room, I’d say it is higher than a year ago. To have essentially two returning starters and a highly rated recruit in there is really good.”
Kiffin’s job security hinges upon one thing: winning.
Talent acquisition is the only path toward winning at a level that sustains his highly-paid occupation. But how much do chemistry and relationships, at the most important position in the sport, factor into that? Does talent acquisition trump all of it? Sanders’ addition to the roster certainly implied that.
From the intel I have gathered, Dart understood that the program would likely acquire two quarterbacks from the portal. He knew that the Rebels simply had to do it. The two other playable options at his position left the program. But again, not all quarterback additions are created or perceived the same way. I am of the educated belief that the addition of Howard, made sense to Dart, while Sanders announcing his commitment the next day, did not make as much sense to Dart.
Then there’s the spring injury component
The beginning of spring practice offered little clarity to any questions we posed. In fact, it offered another puzzling twist. Sanders missed three of OSU's final five games with a shoulder injury. Entering the spring, speculation regarding the state of that injured shoulder intensified. Sanders acknowledged in his first presser in February that he wasn’t yet 100 percent healthy. He was limited for essentially all of spring practice with the injury. I haven’t the slightest clue what the coaching staff knew or did not know about Sanders’ shoulder when they courted him. The question I had at the time was this: how does a newcomer win a quarterback competition against an entrenched starter when said newcomer cannot throw (without limitation) at spring practice every day? Perhaps it was irrelevant to those involved in decision making, and that everyone was comfortable with Sanders using the spring to learn the offense and was poised to enter fall camp fully healthy. I just have a hard time seeing how realistic that idea was in terms of Sanders winning the starting job.
How Kiffin, Sanders and Dart initially commented on the perceived competition was interesting to me and is even more valuable in terms of context five months later.
“I see it being very competitive,” Kiffin said prior to spring football. “I am excited for all three guys. It’s much different than it was a year ago in terms of the depth we have in the room.”
Dart, at the time, had a different view of things.
“To be honest, I see myself as the starter,” Dart said. “I had year one and established myself. In year two, I have the chance to establish stronger bonds and be a leader. I feel like I have taken ownership of that. I am ready to do my job and am loving where I am at right now.”
Was Dart surprised by bringing two quarterbacks in, more specifically those two?
“Obviously, I knew we needed quarterbacks. I was the only scholarship quarterback. I think, just with how it shook out, it ended up being those two. I was aware we had to have some depth. I was aware we were going to take two,” Dart said.
In a sense, Dart said exactly what Ole Miss fans would want him to say. What else was he going to respond with? “Yeah, I hope to become the starter, but these guys are really good, so who knows?” Of course he wasn’t going to say that. But there is a lot of metaphorical real estate between my made up quote and what he said. I found him not conceding that he viewed it as a competition to be interesting and telling.
As we sit here five months later, with Dart’s viewpoint looking more prophetic, I return to the original question I had in February: was it realistic to expect Sanders to unseat Dart when he was poised to spend most of the spring limited with an ailing shoulder?
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This was orchestrated to push Jaxson Dart
As we sit here five days away from the season opener, it seems pretty clear that the strategy behind adding Sanders — whether or not it was this direct and intentional — was to push Dart, to keep the pressure on him as he continues his development. Perhaps the illusion of an open competition, as opposed to Dart being guaranteed the starting job in 2023 all along, would motivate him and assist in that development, as he rounds into more of a finished product as a college quarterback — and I do believe he is far from a finished product.
I am sometimes amused by the general message board and online rhetoric when it comes to what Dart is and could be as a quarterback. As I wrote about in detail last year, Dart’s path to Ole Miss was a wild one. From being an under-recruited prospect, to blowing up instantly after one nationally-televised high school game during his Covid-riddled senior year, to somehow starting games for USC as a true freshman amidst a coach firing, playing well, yet being forced out of that program due to the first head coach-quarterback package (Lincoln Riley and Caleb Williams) in the transfer portal’s history, Dart has been through a lot of football-related adversity and instability
He experienced all of the things listed above, and also found himself in a QB competition in spring ball at his second school, in a span of about 18 months — all before his 19th birthday. Jaxson Dart has seen a lot, but his football-related life experience has been far accelerated compared to his developmental timeline. Despite being a transfer, in all actuality, last year was essentially Jaxson Dart’s maiden voyage as a quarterback in major college football. He was 19 years old and threw 20 touchdowns to 11 interceptions with a 62.4 percent completion percentage on an eight-win team that lacked offensive line depth and had its head coach make the last three games of the season about himself and his future, rather than, ya know, the three remaining football games on the schedule.
While I hate comparisons of this nature, I feel as if it is relevant here. In 2020, Matt Corral, in his third season of college football, all with the same program, threw 29 touchdowns and 14 interceptions with a 71-percent completion percentage. Did you believe in 2020 that Matt Corral had reached his ceiling? Regardless of your answer, what is the reasoning behind thinking that Jaxson Dart has reached his after 15 career starts?
Throughout the spring, as Dart fended off the newest threats to his throne, Kiffin spoke exceedingly high of his second-year signal caller.
“Jackson is a very good example of our improvement,” Kiffin said after a practice. “He’s thrown one interception all spring. He’s not forcing things, like he was a year ago, on every drive. He’s performed better as a result. I believe that with both of them, I know everyone may not agree, that competition brings out the best. I don’t care how you are wired, where you are from or if you were the Gatorade player of the year. Watch the Last Dance and Michael Jordan talk. Competition is critical for everyone’s development.”
Dart’s two most glaring flaws in 2022 were decision making (forcing things) and deep ball accuracy. Kiffin spoke on Dart’s improvement of the former and his improvement on the latter is hard to judge before he plays in a game that counts. He certainly speaks like a guy who is more confident entering his first year of real stability in college football — something he sought to find at Ole Miss and has taken 18 months to come to fruition.
“I feel more comfortable in this offense. I feel confident in my reads and the game has slowed down for me,” Dart said. “Competition is good. For me, I see myself as trying to develop to help this team win and be a first round draft pick. I just want to get better every day and it is good to have guys push you.”
Throughout preseason camp, from reading Neal McCready and Chase Parham’s coverage of the team, it doesn’t sound like first-team reps have come close to being split 50-50, as is usually the case with an open competition. Sanders missed a practice due to an “academic issue” that has presumably been resolved. During an August 12 scrimmage, Dart took most of the reps with the starters in the first half, and then seemingly was rested in the second half, similar to a starting quarterback in an NFL preseason game. In a story posted on Monday, McCready acknowledged that Dart took the majority of first team reps throughout camp, despite Kiffin playing coy as far as naming a starter.
What do NFL teams often do when they have a young quarterback on a short leash? They sign an experienced backup as both an insurance policy and a challenger to win the starting job. Kiffin, who coached in the NFL, has a “pro mindset” motto for his program, and his approach to the portal sometimes loosely mirrors NFL free agency in terms of talent acquisition.
Kiffin isn’t a proponent of releasing and updating depth charts. In his three prior years as Ole Miss head coach, the depth chart placed in the game notes in August has remained throughout the season without even the most obvious updates that surface on the field throughout a season. He did not release a depth chart on Monday. He didn’t name a starting quarterback either. Last year, after Dart and Altmyer both started a game, despite it becoming increasingly obvious Dart was the man for the job, Kiffin didn’t announce a starter prior to the team’s third game at Georgia Tech. Technically, he is still yet to publicly declare a starting QB for 2022. You get the point.
Monday’s indecisiveness was more so a product of Kiffin being himself rather than legitimate uncertainty as to who will take the first snap. I have it on pretty firm authority that Jaxson Dart will jog out onto the field for the team’s first series against Mercer and be treated as the starter, which isn’t an earth-shattering revelation.
Even if my hypothesis of Sanders being a vehicle to push Dart ultimately proves to be true, that doesn’t mean Sanders was merely a pawn in all of this. He is a talented player who’s won 30 games at Power Five program and had a run of success that most prospects dream to achieve. At the very least, he’s an incredibly valuable asset as a back-up quarterback. Once again, depth at all positions, including quarterback is crucial. As a program, Ole Miss went from 2016 to 2020 without having the same quarterback complete all 12 games. It would be disingenuous to label Sanders’ presence as simply a cog in stimulating Dart’s development.
But realistically speaking, this is Jaxson Dart’s team until injuries or poor play warrant a reexamination of the position. You’ll ultimately see that proven true on Saturday.