Rippee Writes: Thursday Scoop
NFL Draft, women's golf NCAA bound, basketball offseason thoughts
Happy Thursday. We’ll have a new podcast out previewing this weekend’s Ole Miss-South Carolina series with Collin Brister, and potentially the typical Mailbag Friday depending on our respective travel and work plans today and tonight. We’ve got NFL Draft stuff, Ole Miss Women’s Golf update and some basketball off-season thoughts to discuss.
Let’s go.
The NFL Draft begins tonight in Cleveland
The draft begins tonight. I think the Rebels will have a first-rounder. Elijah Moore has seemingly solidified himself as the No. 4 receiver in this loaded WR class and there will likely be a team late in the first round wanting his services. The two most popular projections are Tennessee and New Orleans, which I am guessing is good news for just about all of you reading this. Either he ends up in the same receiving corps as A.J. Brown in Nashville or goes to your beloved Saints. I prefer the former, but I am biased. Moore is a great kid that works hard and dealt with a lot of crap stemming from the Dog Pissing situation in November of 2019, some of it deserved and some of it overblown in my opinion. That night, on national television in a game that became a farce, would’ve defined some kids. Moore turned it into a blip on the radar by putting together just a stupid 2020 season from a statistical standpoint. As a guy that came into the program, learned from Brown, D.K. Metcalf (maybe a little too much from Metcalf, see dog piss situation) and Damarkus Lodge. He watched all of them realize their NFL dreams and now gets to do so himself. I enjoyed covering Moore and am happy for his success. Any receiver drafted in the first round that played in a Rich Rodriguez offense should be awarded some medal for bravery.
Anyway, outside of Moore, allow me to sell you on watching the NFL Draft, if you’re a casual fan or don’t really enjoy the event at all. This one is going to be crazy. Five quarterbacks are likely to be taken in the top 20 picks. The first two are set in stone with Trevor Lawrence going to Jacksonville and Zach Wilson going to the Jets. The most compelling storyline in this entire draft is what the San Francisco 49ers will do with the 3rd pick. They traded up to this spot, presumably to get a quarterback, despite having a guy in Jimmy Garoppolo that took the club to a Super Bowl two seasons ago. Garoppolo has struggled to stay on the field and has clearly fallen out of favor with head coach Kyle Shanahan. Don’t believe me? When asked if Garoppollo would be on the team’s roster by this Sunday (the day after the draft ends), Shanahan made the astute point that we can’t guarantee we will all be alive Sunday. Seriously.
I, for one, am grateful Shanahan reminded us all of our collective mortality, but when put in the context of whether a quarterback will play on your football team any longer, you could make the argument it is somewhat creepy. Has anyone done a wellness check on Garoppolo? Imagine hearing your boss say that about your job status.
Reporter: There has been a lot of talk about y’all moving on from Fred in accounting, are you confident he can get the numbers done by April and remain with the company?
Boss: Well, he could be dead by then.
Reporter: Fair enough.
That doesn’t sound like Fred is in line for a raise, same for Jimmy-G.
Anyway, outside the top two, no one seems to know which order these quarterbacks will go in: Trey Lance, Mac Jones, Justin Fields. The reports are the 49ers are torn between Lance and Jones and that people within the organization are divided on it. Justin Fields, unfortunately, has been that one guy you see every year whose draft stock plummets based off of interview and workout fodder. Some of it is silly and I guess some of it is warranted. But how this shakes out is fascinating to me. Not to mention there was no combine, so medical information on these guys is limited and the collective groupthink scouts and coaches form from having beers together at the combine and pro days isn’t there either. Overall, there’s less certainty about every player in this draft. It will make for a wild few days. Anyways, that’s my pitch. Go watch the draft, or don’t. I can’t tell you what to do.


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Ole Miss Women’s Golf NCAA Bound
The Ole Miss Women’s Golf Team earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament on Wednesday. The Rebels are a No. 2 seed in the Baton Rouge Regional, the highest seed in program history. The regional is being played at the LSU University Course, where the group finished runner up at the Tiger Invitational earlier this year. Three other SEC teams — Alabama, Mississippi State, and, obviously, LSU — tare in this regional with the Rebels. The top six teams advance to the NCAA Championships in Scottsdale, Arizona. Congrats to Coach Kory Thompson Henkes, Zack Byrd and the entire team on a great year and a cool accomplishment. Hopefully it is the start of a deep run.
Ole Miss Hoops cements 2021 signing class
Kermit Davis and the Rebels completed the bulk of their roster reshaping last week by cementing the 2021 signing class. Here’s a look at it in its entirety.
Jaemyn Brakefield • Sophomore • Forward • 6-9
Jackson, Miss. • Huntington Prep • Duke
Nysier Brooks • Graduate • Center • 7-0
Philadelphia, Pa. • Advanced Prep International • Miami (FL)
Tye Fagan • Senior • Guard • 6-3
Logtown, Ga. • Upson-Lee • Georgia
Daeshun Ruffin • Freshman • Guard • 5-9
Jackson, Miss. • Callaway
Grant Slatten • Freshman • Guard • 6-5
Sparta, Tenn. • White County
Eric Van Der Heijden • Freshman • Forward • 6-8
Raleigh N.C. • Millbrook
James White • Freshman • Guard • 6-5
Conyers, Ga. • Heritage
What to make of it? It’s really useless to say right now. How many times over the last decade have you been sold a bill of goods regarding the Rebels being an NCAA Tournament team on paper by people like me (or used to be me) and other media types, only to see a couple missed evaluations and the team limp the NIT or no postseason at all. That’s not really a knock on the current or previous staff or the local media contingent, but at some point, we had all better learn our lesson.
I will say, I like what the Rebels did in reshaping the front court. Brooks is a mature player that offers rim protection and can rebound. Brakefield is a former highly-touted recruit and is a smooth, left-handed forward that actually looks more natural finishing with his right hand at times. He can defend the perimeter and is a decent enough shooter to require opponents to defend him away from the basket. To me, the key to Ole Miss’s success next season is whether it can get consistent scoring out of its backcourt. Jarkell Joiner looked like he took a leap toward the end of last season and began to find himself. Matthew Murrell needs to be much better as a sophomore. I think the best bet is those two forming a formidable tandem, and whatever you get out of Ruffin, a true freshman, is a bonus. Ruffin, of course, is a McDonald’s All-American, but relying on a 5-foot-9 guard to help carry your offense from the time he gets onto campus seems like a tough thing to ask.
I like what the Rebels did this offseason, and they may not be done with the transfer portal now a 24/7/365 option, but would like to see all the pieces in action before making any declarations.
Greg says you people love the 16 oz prime strip for $10 deal so he will roll with that for a third consecutive week. Check out our grill corner podcast from yesterday. It will make you want to fire up your grill. Also, you get $2 off any fish in the freezer. Thanks for subscribing and enjoy. Go by LBs. They’re the best.
On the horizon:
Friday podcast previewing the South Carolina series, plus Mailbag Friday. Send in your questions to be answered on the show.
Draft reaction and a South Carolina scouting report in tomorrow’s newsletter
I am working on a long-form story that I think you all might enjoy. I will not spill many details now but it is a subject I have written about before that became a cool story this time two years ago. More on that soon.
That is all from me today. Thanks for being a subscriber. Send to your friends and tell them to join in on the fun. Have a wonderful Thursday. We’ll be back with more tomorrow.