OXFORD, Miss. – Offensive depth was the topic of the day for Ole Miss football's fifth fall camp practice and media availability on Monday morning, which was split between the outdoor practice fields and the Manning Center indoor practice facility.
The Rebels – who today were ranked No. 22 in the initial USA Today National Coaches Poll – were outside before late morning storms swept through Oxford and pushed the remainder of practice indoors. Afterward, head coach Lane Kiffin, junior offensive lineman Eli Acker and senior wide receiver Jalen Knox met with members of the media.
Season tickets are still available for the 2023 season, as are the recently announced Party Packs, which features two, three and four-game mini plans.
For all ticket opportunities, contact the Ole Miss Athletics Ticket office at OleMissTix.com, olemisstix@olemiss.edu or 888-732-TKTS. A limited number of season ticket opportunities remain throughout Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Excluding single seats, several sections have sold out, including the south end zone. If inventory is available, single-game tickets will go on sale beginning August 15.
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DEEP, VETERAN OFFENSIVE LINE
Much has been made about the Rebel depth at positions like quarterback and running back, but the Ole Miss offensive line heads into 2023 as one of the stronger position groups thanks to a bevy of returners and key newcomers.
Out of 18 total offensive linemen on the roster, 11 are returning from the 2022 season – including four out of five starters, the lone missing starter being NFL draft pick Nick Broeker. Those 11 returners and seven newcomers have all seen reps in the early days of training camp, including three-year Ole Miss letterwinner Eli Acker, who has played in 24 games and started nine in three seasons with the Rebels.
"This year is probably the deepest we've ever been, offensive line wise," Acker said. "We truly got probably eight or nine guys who can go play. Young guys like Brycen Sanders, he's doing a great job for a freshman. He's going to be a great player in the future."
Acker and the rest of the offensive line have also been continuing to adjust to new offensive line coach John Garrison, who was brought on before the Texas Bowl last season.
"(Garrison)'s been great. He came into the room and established some ground rules and established the culture, and we ran with it and ran with him," Acker said. "It's been great so far."
OPTIONS, OPTIONS, OPTIONS
Whoever ends up being Ole Miss' starting quarterback, they're going to have plenty of weapons to work with. In the backfield is reigning SEC rushing leader and Maxwell Award watch list member Quinshon Judkins. At tight end are two Mackey Award watch list members in Caden Prieskorn and Michael Trigg. And at wide receiver are two more with preseason honors, Zakhari Franklin and Tre Harris, who were both named to the Biletnikoff Award watch list on Monday morning.
And included in that wide receiver mix is veteran wideout Jalen Knox, who enters his senior year in 2023 looking to contribute further to the Rebel passing attack. Knox transferred to Ole Miss following a hot start to his career at Missouri from 2018-20, where he tallied the fourth-most receiving yards ever by a Mizzou freshman in 2018 with 419 and three touchdowns on 27 receptions.
"(Camp)'s been smooth so far," Knox said. "Right now I'm just trying to iron out the little details in my game and get the last little things I haven't worked on yet. Just trying to get ready for the season, so far it's going good."
Add in other veteran returners like Jordan Watkins, Bralon Brown, JJ Henry and Dayton Wade, as well as head-turning freshmen like Ayden Williams and Cayden Lee, and the Rebel receiving corps looks fearsome heading into 2023.
"I feel like we got one of the best rooms in the country, honestly," Knox said. "We're all on the same page, we're all locked-in, we're all growing. We know what we got in our room, we're gonna keep working on it and put on a show when Saturdays come."
ODDS AND ENDS FROM COACH KIFFIN
Nearly one week into training camp isn't long enough to make any firm evaluations, but head coach Lane Kiffin did have some early praise to hand out at today's media session.
On sophomore running back Quinshon Judkins potentially turning into more of a threat in the passing game:
"You can also take the next step in doing more things, whether that's a quarterback or a running back. You can use a guy more in the passing game with things that, in my opinion, when you first get him, you don't want to do all that, because then you never really get good at being a normal running back. We are looking at some things with (Judkins), and he's uniquely gifted for a bigger, stocky guy that he can play in the passing game. A lot of times that's not the case."
On senior transfer tight end Caden Prieskorn's quick transition to Ole Miss:
"Prieskorn has fit in really well. Players put him on the leadership committee already after not being here very long, which says a lot. He is extremely mature, so we're excited about him."
On junior quarterback Jaxson Dart's maturation from last season:
"I think he's matured a lot, developed a lot, his game is a lot better. He's mature, but he was still young, it was his second year of college his first year here. I like Jaxson a lot, and he has really grown into a leader of this team. They vote that leadership group, and he was up there as high as anybody."
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