Assessing Ole Miss’ 2016 recruiting class

Ole Miss is set to lose a lot of talent to the NFL Draft this spring, but with another top recruiting class, the Rebels should remain competitive in the SEC West.

Coach Hugh Freeze has eight commits ranked in the Top 10 at their respective positions according to 247 Sports composite rankings. Ole Miss also has two of the nation’s top 5 overall players, OT Gregory Little and pro-style QB Shea Patterson.

Ole Miss also has nine four-star commits. Only Ohio State, LSU and Michigan have more five-star and four-star commits than Ole Miss.

The team still needs some help at receiver. Assuming junior Laquon Treadwell enters the NFL Draft in 2016, Ole Miss will lose four receivers. The Rebels only have one wideout currently committed.

But the team is loading up on talent on both sides of the ball. In this recruiting class, Ole Miss has replacements for OT Laremy Tunsil, DL Robert Nkemdiche, RB Jaylen Walton and the eventual heir to the QB position after Chad Kelly leaves. That’s not too shabby.

ASSESSING OLE MISS 2016 CLASS

Current commits or enrollees: 20 (avg. star 3.65; last year: 3.35)
Current big-name targets: DT Rashan Gary, DE Jeffery Simmons, S Deontay Anderson, CB Shyheim Carter
Biggest positions of need: WR, LB and DL
National/SEC rank: 5/3

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Dave Holcomb

Dave covers SEC football for Saturday Down South.