Rippee Writes: Rebels enter final week of camp
Ole Miss's season opener is 14 days away and another Mississippian is on the cusp of a PGA Tour card
Hope everyone had a good weekend. We’ve got a new podcast out with Weldon Rotenberg discussing an array of Ole Miss Football topics as the Rebels enter the final week of preseason camp. Check that out here or anywhere you get podcasts.
A lot of football and some golf to get to today.
Rebels wrap up week two of camp with scrimmage
Ole Miss capped off its second week of camp with its second scrimmage. In a polar opposite reaction than after the first scrimmage, Lane Kiffin seemed pleased with how the defense performed. A couple notes.
Kiffin singled out Sam Williams as someone who had a great scrimmage. That is exactly what you should want to hear if you are an Ole Miss fan with the season 14 days away.
“We did a much better job limiting explosive plays,” Kiffin said. “I thought the defensive line played well, particularly Sam.”
Williams is the best athlete on the defense and his talent is easily visible. The key for Williams is consistency on a snap-by-snap basis. Williams is good in third down situations in which his only objective is to put the opposing quarterback on his ass. Where he struggles is being in good position on run fits and fulfilling responsibilities that are not related to rushing the passer. If Ole Miss can get that same level of play and buy-in from Williams on everything else that comes with the edge position, his draft stock will soar and the Rebels will be a better defense as a result.
Kiffin didn’t really have much to add on the backup quarterback battle. Luke Altmyer was limited and couldn’t do a whole lot, and Kinkead Dent threw a pair of touchdowns.
As was the case in last weekend’s scrimmage, transfer center Orlando Umana was sidelined with an injury. This is significant, seeing that Umana is the favorite to be the team’s starting center in the season opener in two weeks. Caleb Warren and Bryce Ramsey have taken snaps at center in his absence. While Kiffin maintains that Ole Miss has not had any major injuries to key contributors to this point, you have to wonder what the severity of Umana’s injury is at this point.
Beyond the obvious reason why an injury to a potential starter is significant, Umana’s arrival allowed Ole Miss more comfort in moving Ben Brown back to his native guard position. This is just a guess, but I’d imagine the coaching staff will keep Brown at guard, move Warren to center and figure out the other guard spot as best they can until Umana returns. If Ramsey is capable enough, then fine, it’s a simple one-for-one replacement. But with Kiffin not disclosing injuries, it’s difficult to forecast. This is something to monitor as the start of the season nears.
Cedric Johnson says he is bigger and stronger than he was this time a year ago. Go find a photo of him shortly after he arrived in Oxford compared to how he looks now and you’d be a fool not to believe him. The second-year player out of Mobile is an intriguing story. He could become a much needed playmaker for Ole Miss.
“It was great having last year to get comfortable,” Johnson said. “Because coming into last year as a freshman, it’s a lot being in these big games. It made me more comfortable and got my feet wet. This year, I am physically a lot bigger and a lot more mentally confident.”
Johnson started to work his way into more playing time toward the end of last season. Hell, he ended up finishing second on the team in sacks, low bar be damned. Johnson developed quickly and forced his way onto the field as a freshman. How big of a leap he makes in his second year will impact the ceiling of this defense.
College football and NFL full season, weekly packages and futures package up on the site. Join the team. Full season subscribers get futures package free Use code FOOTBALL for 30% off any football package.
In addition to the deal above, SkyBox is releasing articles to make you a smarter wagerer heading into football season. How about that? If you’re into wagering, you need to check these guys out, particularly ahead of football season. They have a picks package for your preferred sport that will fit your price range. You’re missing out by not going to pay them your business. It will pay off in your bank account.
NASCAR PROMO: With NASCAR revving back up, anyone who signs up for a NASCAR picks package gets 30 percent off using the promo code ‘NASCAR’. That’s in addition to subscribers getting 20 percent off by using the promo code “Rippee”. They hit Ryan Blaney +1400 and Ford to win at +350 on Sunday — just an FYI.
Other notes from last week:
Jalen Cunningham has moved from offensive line to defensive tackle. Really, you could say he’s moving back there. Cunningham was a three-star defensive tackle prospect out of high school and moved to the offensive side upon arriving at Ole Miss. Cunningham saw limited reserve action at guard over his first two seasons.
LeDarrius Cox has done the opposite. The towering defensive tackle is now apparently working with the offensive line. The move happened at some point last week. I do not have a ton to add to this, other than that Cox is an absolutely massive human being and I always wondered what he lacked as far as becoming a formidable option on the interior defensive line.
Class begins on Monday and the Rebels will spend half of the week going through more traditional camp-like practices before diving in to some Louisville prep, and will culminate camp with another mock-game/scrimmage this coming weekend.
Ole Miss adds transfer OL from South Carolina
The Rebels announced on Monday they added South Carolina transfer Jordan Rhodes to the roster. The 6-foot-4, 335-pound offensive lineman appeared in 20 games at South Carolina over the last three seasons. Rhodes was a a three-star recruit kid coming out of Creekside High School in Fairburn, Georgia. He will be eligible this fall and has two years of eligibility remaining.
I won’t blow smoke up your ass and proclaim to know a ton about this kid or that I knew this moving was coming, but what I can tell you is that it appears he has the ability to play guard and tackle, and was taking second-team reps with the Gamecocks before transferring. Who knows what kind of impact Rhodes will have, but a versatile player with 20 games of experience can only be viewed as a good thing for an offensive line that is a little thin from a depth standpoint, particularly on the exterior.
Current Deal: For being a loyal subscriber, show him proof of subscription and you’ll get a 16 oz. prime strip for $15 and a pack of sausage for $5. That’s a hell of a dinner on the grill for 20 bucks. Go check him out, it’s the best place in Mississippi to get meat and Oxford is lucky to have it.
Buckley notches T-7 finish at first KFT Finals event
Another Mississippian is on the verge of earning his PGA Tour card. Hayden Buckley, who shared the 36-hole lead with six other players, notched a T-7 finish at the first Korn Ferry Tour Finals event: the Boise Albertson’s open. Buckley finished one-shot short of OFFICIALLY locking his card, as, per the tour, the top 5 and ties earned enough points to cement a PGA Tour card.
If you’re new, the Korn Ferry Finals consists of three tournaments that award an additional 25 cards — beyond the 25 awarded to the top 25 in the standings at the end of the Korn Ferry regular season — to the competing players. The field in these three tournaments is made up of 26-75 on the Korn Ferry Tour points list and 126-200 on the PGA Tour FedEx Cup points list (this year, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, anyone that finished 126-200 on the PGA Tour in either of the last two seasons is eligible).
Despite finishing just short of knowing his fate, Buckley put about 85 percent of the proverbial hay in the barn. I watched the broadcast last night, and according to the announcers, 200 points is (roughly) the amount of points needed to lock up a card. Buckley earned 170 points for his T-7 finish. For reference, 41st place is worth 30 points in both of the next two tournaments. So, in theory, Buckley is basically one more made cut and decent finish away from realizing his dream. I imagine if you asked him, he’d love to have made one more birdie on Sunday, but this is still a fantastic and potentially career-changing result. He’s so close and has just a little more work to do to finish the job.
Ally McDonald Ewing makes Solheim Cup team
Another Mississippian is making waves in professional golf. Two-time LPGA Tour champion Ally McDonald Ewing will represent the United States in the Solheim Cup — the Women’s version of the Ryder Cup.
Ewing is a Fulton, Mississippi, native and grew up playing Fulton Country Club with Chad Ramey. A town of 4,000 people boasts a PGA Tour player and the 22nd-ranked women’s player in the world. Pretty cool stuff.
College football roster expansion looms
This story broke last week via Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger, but roster expansion is coming.
Basically what this means is that schools will now get a replacement scholarship for players that transfer, though that number will be capped. Under the current rules, if a kid leaves a program for another, that program doesn’t get his scholarship back. It makes staying at or around the 85-man roster limit tougher to do and is a dumb rule. This new legislation would fix that. To use Dellenger’s example, let’s say the cap is seven per year. If Ole Miss had five players transfer (just a hypothetical, calm down), it would be able to sign 30 players in its class. But if it had 10 players leave, the class would still be capped at 32.
I asked Weldon about this on the podcast yesterday and his eyes lit up before colorfully describing how long overdue this is and how stupid the current set up is. This has apparently been a sore subject for coaches, recruiters and evaluators for some time. This will also help high-school kids have more opportunity and seems to be a positive for all involved.
On the horizon
Opponent preview podcast segment continues with Texas A&M. Look for that tomorrow
More Football content
Mailbag Friday
That is all from me today. Thanks for being a loyal subscriber. Send to your friends and tell them to join in on the fun. Back with more tomorrow.