Ole Miss football: Grading each position group after the 2022 regular season

Ole Miss found itself in the early national championship conversation before the season and during the 1st half of it, but it ultimately showed why it is important to not jump the gun too quickly.

The Rebels ended their regular season on a 2-game losing streak, as they fell to Arkansas and Mississippi State in back-to-back fashion, dropping to an 8-4 overall record. While the Rebels had 1 of the best ground games in the nation, it ultimately was not enough to overcome some of the growing pains of a young quarterback and the shortcomings of an inconsistent defense.

At regular season’s end, here’s how the Rebels graded out at each position group:

Quarterback: C

There’s no question that Jaxson Dart was a bit up and down throughout the season. Such is commonly the case with quarterbacks who haven’t started a ton of games and doubly so whenever it’s a young transfer adjusting to a new program.

Dart, who had shown the ability to make plays with his legs, did just that this season and progressively got better as a passer despite some decision-making issues that reared their ugly head from time to time, especially early in the season. It’s clear that he’s the guy moving forward, and he’s got a high ceiling that should be a reason for excitement and optimism for the future.

Dart finished with a 62.6% completion rate, throwing for 2,613 yards with 18 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. He added 548 rushing yards, crossing the century mark in the wins over Tulsa and Auburn. Dart’s development will be something to watch moving forward, as Ole Miss largely leaned on its ground game this season.

Running back: A

Some were high on Ole Miss’ backfield before the season, as it had the potential to produce 1 of the best ground attacks in the nation, something that very much came to light with freshman standout Quinshon Judkins leading the way. Judkins posted a record-breaking season in 2022, finishing with 1,476 yards on 251 carries and 16 touchdowns en route to winning the C-Spire Conerly Trophy, awarded to the best college football player in Mississippi each year.

He ran for 100 yards or more in 8 games, falling just short of the mark in every other contest except for the win over Vanderbilt when Dart passed for 448 yards.

Fellow running back Zach Evans was also a player to watch — though he did have to miss 1 game with an injury — piling up 899 rushing yards on 136 carries and 8 TDs.

Wide receiver/tight end: B

The passing game wasn’t the key to the season, and it clearly didn’t need to be. But that’s not to say that it won’t come together for the Rebels in a big way at points in the future. It showed the potential in just how much of a factor it can be in the victory over the Commodores.

There were some unwarranted drops across the board that were at times an issue and the unfortunate injury to tight end Michael Trigg early in the season as he was still getting into the swing of things. But there were definitely high points. Jonathan Mingo was 1 wideout with some hype behind him before the season and that was backed up, as he finished with 48 receptions for 808 yards and 5 touchdowns, highlighted by a 247-yard game in the win over Vanderbilt.

Former Mississippi State receiver Malik Heath was also among those who emerged and caught some national attention. He finished with 52 catches for 834 yards and 4 touchdowns, crossing the century mark in yards receiving in 4 games.

Offensive line: B-

It hardly matters how much talent an offense has if it doesn’t have a consistently reliable offensive line to protect adequately to get a play off or to help open up running lanes for the backs. It’s obvious this group did a good job with the latter, rolling with ease on the ground against just about every opponent it faced.

The offensive line looked mostly solid throughout the season, with the 1st real time it seemed to struggle coming in the loss at LSU. Pass-blocking was an issue in that game and in some other contests throughout the season. The Tigers’ pass rush was known to be formidable, which was an issue for every opponent, but Dart wasn’t done any favors with multiple LSU defenders quickly making their way into the backfield and forcing him into bad situations.

Defensive line: C

Despite coming up with some key plays that either won the game when it was close or in which the Rebels came up just short, namely the win over Kentucky and the loss to Mississippi State, the defensive line was largely lackluster. Generally looking at it, what the Rebels lacked was consistency as overall performance didn’t reflect the fact that they finished with more total tackles than any team in the SEC and had the 4th-most sacks (33) in the conference.

The run defense had its struggles, as the Rebels finished 81st in the nation, surrendering an average of 4.15 yards per rush and 161.8 ground yards per game. Through about the 1st 5 games, the defense looked like it could make a turnaround from some of the struggles of the 2021 season, but it faltered from there.

Defensive end Cedric Johnson, who was expected to be a breakout candidate before the season, finished with 32 tackles (15 solo), 4 sacks and 1 fumble recovery. Georgia Tech transfer Jared Ivey, also a player many had speculated about back in the summer, added 34 tackles (13 solo), 3.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery.

Linebacker: C

Troy Brown was an important piece here, as expected, joining the Rebels after being a 3-time All-MAC selection at Central Michigan. Despite dealing with injuries during the season, he still recorded 1 of the best seasons of his 5-year career, finishing with 91 total tackles (42 solo), 5 passes defended and 0.5 sacks.

There were a lot of question marks surrounding this position group with just how transfer-heavy it was between Brown, Khari Coleman (TCU), Reginald Hughes (Northeast Mississippi Community College) and Danny Lockhart II (USC).

As the Rebels looked to fill the void of Chance Campbell, no other linebacker came remotely close to Brown’s performance.

Defensive back: C

One of the things head coach Lane Kiffin specifically lamented at multiple points in the season were tackling issues, notably calling out the secondary. The group had 12 returners this year, though depth was still a concern.

The Rebels finished last season ranked 2nd in the SEC in passing efficiency defense but ended the 2022 season ranked 82nd in the FBS in the same category. They were 58th nationally this year in passing yards allowed with a total of 2,616 yards given up through the air and an average of 218 yards per game.

AJ Finley produced yet again this season, but injury issues were problematic. Finley finished with 71 total tackles (43 solo), 2 passes defended, 2 interceptions, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery.

Specialists: B

Ole Miss was solid on special teams for the better part of the season, though it didn’t exceed anything beyond average.

Placekicker Jonathan Cruz made 88.2% of his field-goal attempts, going 6-for-6 in the 40-49-yard range and 1-for-2 from 50 yards or more.

Crissy Froyd

Crissy covers SEC football news for Saturday Down South.