Rippee Writes: Rebel offense dinged up and a Magnolia State golf update
Keidron Smith talks position change, Kiffin updates injury (sort of) and a Mississippian is on the cusp of earning a PGA Tour Card
Hope everyone is having a good week. We have a new podcast out with Travis Brown who covers the Aggies for The Eagle newspaper and My Aggie Nation. We talked about an A&M team that is locked and loaded to compete for the SEC West title if it can find a signal caller.
We discussed the quarterback battle between Haynes King and Zach Calzada. Jimbo Fisher actually announced King as the starter right after the podcast dropped, but the conversation is still relevant. Check it out here or anywhere you get podcasts.
We’ve got a lot of football and a golf update to get to today.
Smith talks move to safety
Keidron Smith took ownership of his move from corner to safety. He went as far to call it “more of his decision,” citing that it made sense considering the corner-heavy 2021 recruiting class the Rebels signed in February. Smith is eager to take on the added responsibility associated with safety such as a heavier presence in run defense. This is the first time he has played safety at any level, despite asking to play it in high school and the coaching staff saying no.
“I felt it would be selfish for me not to make the move with all the depth we have at corner,” Smith said. “Mentally, at safety, you have to know a lot more about the defense with run fits and getting everyone into position.”
I found Smith’s thoughts on the newfound depth in the secondary to be interesting on multiple levels. He seemed genuinely eager to teach the younger players the nuances of the position and was pretty high on their potential. The most interesting part was Smith discussing how much a heavy snap count every single week affected him late in games.
“Your adrenaline is pumping during the game so you don’t feel it as much until the fourth quarter when the fatigue sets in,” Smith said. “Then, the next day you felt it all, soreness and all that other stuff. It took a lot throughout the week to get prepared for the next game.”
Is he okay with some of the workload being dispersed elsewhere?
“Yes. The fewer plays you get, the better the plays will be in those 35 snaps as opposed to 90 snaps. You can give it everything you have versus trying to chill out a little bit over 90 snaps.”
As far as the number he threw out, Smith was likely just giving an example. I figure he plays more than 35 snaps per game, but his point is still well-stated regarding how the lack of depth took a toll on him and the other corners in previous years.
This move will also allow him to show some versatility in his skillset, which can only help his chances of carving out a career in the NFL.
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Ole Miss is healthier on one side than the other
Lane Kiffin is purposely vague as it pertains to injuries. He’s made it clear he won’t discuss specifics of individual injuries, which makes things difficult when trying to forecast who may or may not be available on a given Saturday. On Tuesday, Kiffin shed a little bit of light on the overall health of the football team.
“We are limited at an number of position with injuries,” Kiffin said. “On the offensive line, we are low on numbers and it’s been difficult to develop some guys because of it. Same with receiver and same with tight end. Running backs, we are healthy and feel pretty good about it… Our defense is pretty healthy. Our offense is not.”
If you’ve kept up with the program throughout camp, this is hardly a surprise. The Rebels are banged up at receiver and on the offensive line, which happen to be the two positions they needed to formulate depth at heading into camp. Kiffin went on to say he expects everyone to be able to practice on Wednesday and throughout the rest of the week… So, who knows how hurt the offense actually is? I am not at practice or around the program every day anymore, which makes him one tough cookie to solve via YouTube on a computer screen. Some of this is me speculating, but most of the ailments seem to be relatively minor (with two somewhat obvious exceptions). But the bottom line is that Ole Miss cannot afford a barrage of injuries at either position.
Other notes:
Adding on to the injury note, Kiffin mentioned Eli Aker being a bit limited in practice of late. The same goes for Bryce Ramsey, who has been getting an increased look at center with Orlando Umana out with an injury. I’ll be interested to see who is available on Labor Day night and which five guys trot out on the opening series.
If Dannis Jackson is going to take the next step in his development, there is no better time than now. With Ole Miss looking for depth at receiver, particularly in the slot, the speedy 5-foot-11, 175 pound junior makes for an intriguing option. Talent has never been an issue with Jackson, it’s consistency in knowing what to do and doing it every snap.
“Just being accountable,” Jackson said. “Knowing my assignment, being able to lineup and do it. Then the rest comes. It’s something I had to put more time into.”
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Ole Miss lands in-state OL
Ole Miss landed four-star prospect Byron Hurts on Wednesday, a much needed land for the 2022 class.
I am no recruiting expert, so I will refer you to one: RebelGrove’s Zach Berry has the story here. You should subscribe to RebelGrove. It’s be best Ole Miss information available and it’s not close.
Magnolia State golf update:
One Mississippian is close to earning a PGA Tour card. Qualifying school started this week too.
The Korn Ferry Tour is in Columbus, Ohio, this week for the penultimate Finals event. If you are new here, the Korn Ferry Tour Finals awards 25 additional PGA Tour Cards to the top 25 in the standings after three weeks. The first event was last week. You can quite literally change your career in four days with one strong finish or, of course, a win. Due to the pandemic the field is a little bit altered. It features the 126th-200th finishers on the PGA Tour over the last TWO seasons and 1-75 in the Korn Ferry Standings.
It’s also worth noting that the 25 guys who secured PGA Tour cards by finishing in the top 25 on the regular seasons points list play in The Finals events, too. Why? to improve their status. Yes, all 25 guys are PGA Tour members but not all of them are equals. The player who finishes No. 1 in the standings is FULLY exempt and avoids the reshuffle. This means he gets into more tournaments, including The Players Championship. The No. 2-25 finishers have a version (in descending order) of the base level full-time status on tour and are subject to the reshuffle, which is essentially a re-rank of players based on season earnings up to that point and determines who gets priority in getting into upcoming tournaments. It’s a long, confusing matrix, but just know that being fully exempt is a TREMENDOUS advantage.
I explained this incorrectly last week, though I had the gist of it correct (forgive me, this shit is unnecessarily confusing). For the 25 players that earned PGA Tour Cards in the regular season, the regular season points list (just for those 25) carries over to the Finals. So if you finished 3rd like Chad Ramey did, you can still move up based on your finals performance, if that makes sense.
For everyone else, their total resets to zero. It’s a fresh start. Everyone who does not already have a PGA Tour card started at zero entering last week’s event in Boise. The catch is that the priority ranking works like this : No. 1 in regular season, No. 1 in finals. Next is No. 2 in regular season, then No. 2 in finals and so on until you get to the 49th and 50th player (25th regular season and then 25th in the finals).
I hope that made some semblance of sense. If it didn’t I’d encourage you to use this link. It’s made the headache of figuring this out. Anyway, onto the fun part. All times are CT
Tupelo native and Mizzou alum Hayden Buckley tees off at 6:53 a.m. tomorrow morning and at 12:03 Friday afternoon. Buckley is so close to realizing a dream. He finished 32nd in the regular season standings thanks to a February win in Tampa and would have locked up his card with a victory at the regular season’s penultimate event in Utah, but came up just short with a T-2 finish despite a Sunday 61. Last week, Buckley shared the 36-hole lead in Boise with six other guys, including Ramey. A top five finish would have earned him enough Finals points to lock up his card after one event. He finished one shot short at T-7. That’s still a fantastic result. He put about 85 percent of the proverbial hay in the barn. The T-7 mark earned him 170 points. Somewhere around 200 points is what is needed to secure a spot inside the Finals 25. According the the Korn Ferry Tour’s Instagram, a T-36 finish or better this week will send Buckley to the PGA Tour. With the way he’s played over the last month, you have to like his chances. He’s basically got two events to earn 50(ish) points. Here’s to hoping he finishes the job this week. He’s so damn close.
Fulton native and Mississippi State alum Chad Ramey is playing alongside Buckley over the first two days. Coincidentally, Ramey also finished T-7 last week. This man is an absolute machine. That’s 24 made cuts in a row for Ramey. On this day one year ago, he teed it up in this tournament and missed the cut. He hasn’t missed one since. Here’s a story on him from last week. The guy will make waves on the PGA Tour next year.
Olive Branch native and Ole Miss alum Braden Thornberry tees off at 7:48 tomorrow morning and at 12:58 on Friday. Thornberry finished 57th in the regular season standings and missed the cut last week in Boise. The beauty of this setup is one week can change everything. He can earn a PGA Tour card with a top-5 finish this week or next.
Hattiesburg native and Alabama alum Davis Riley tees off at 6:42 tomorrow morning and 11:52 a.m. on Friday. Riley won twice in 2020 before the shutdown and the wraparound season and has basically been a certainty to be PGA Tour bound for 18 months now. He finished 7th in the regular season standings. Riley notched a T-20 result last week and is looking to improve his status and cash checks.
Brandon native and Ole Miss alum Jonathan Randolph finished outside the top 75 in the Korn Ferry Tour standings and did not qualify for The Finals. It is presumably back to one of the stages (I am guessing second or final stage) of Korn Ferry Tour qualifying school. To be frank, this is a tough place to be in professional golf. A handful of days this fall will determine if he has any major professional status at all.
On the horizon:
Mailbag Friday + Grill Corner podcast with LBs Greg. Send your questions now.
More football content
Some future podcast segments as the season starts next week.
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