Breaking down players Ole Miss expects to return for 2024 season

The Ole Miss Rebels have been enjoying a nice past couple of years under Lane Kiffin in Oxford. He’s guided the team to 10 wins in two of the past three years, which is never easy to do, especially in the SEC.

At the end of the 2023 campaign, the Rebels will take on the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Peach Bowl on Dec. 30. As the season winds down, it’s time to take a look at the players returning for next season.

On the Sunday evening edition of the Andy Staples show, Zach Berry of OMSpirit broke down which players will be returning for the 2024 campaign in Oxford.

Ole Miss returns an extremely impressive roster in 2024

Ole Miss will be returning what should be one of the most loaded rosters in the SEC.

“Honestly, outside of Dayton Wade, they pretty much bring everybody back on offense,” Berry said on Sunday evening. “They expect Quinshon Judkins, Jaxson Dart back. I’m sensing some optimism on Ulysses Bentley IV. I think that missing out on Kewan Lacy, the four-star running back out of Lancaster. Missouri swooped in, got him late. That’s a big get for Drinkwitz because he’s a stud. I think they’re probably gonna try to retain Bentley.”

Ole Miss also landed one of the more dynamic receivers in the transfer portal, former South Carolina standout Juice Wells. He was one of the highest rated prospects in the On3 Transfer Portal Rankings. Wells has hauled in over 900 receiving yards in two different seasons of his college football career (2021 with JMU and 2022 with South Carolina).

“And yeah, Micah Pettus is back on the offensive line. And I think, you add Juice Wells to that wide receiver room. I mean, it’s crazy. We talked earlier this year. The only wide receiver group in the country with three guys over 700 yards (Tre Harris, Dayton Wade, and Jordan Watkins). And they bring in Juice Wells and if the foot’s healthy, I mean, expectations are gonna be through the roof,” Berry said.

Lane Kiffin has a proven track record of being one of the better offensive minds in the game of college football. The past two seasons, the Ole Miss offensive attack has ranked inside the top 30 in the nation in scoring offense (points per game).

Quinshon Judkins not only shredded opposing defenses for 1,565 yards and 16 touchdowns as a freshman in 2022. But he came back and followed it up with another great showing in 2023, finishing with 1,052 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns on the ground. His 15 rushing touchdowns lead the SEC in 2023.

Not only will the Rebels have Dart and Judkins back, but they’ll also have an infusion of talent coming from the transfer portal–which they’ve been dominating. 2024 figures to be yet another exciting year for Ole Miss fans, no doubt about it, especially with the College Football Playoff format moving to 12 teams.