Paul Finebaum reveals Lane Kiffin's true goal with additions of Spencer Sanders, Walker Howard

The Portal King struck again this offseason, as Lane Kiffin made multiple splashes with some transfer additions. Notably, he created the deepest quarterback room in college football, adding Spencer Sanders and Walker Howard to a position that group that already had Jaxson Dart in place. But SEC Network analyst Paul Finebaum believes those moves by Kiffin had a hidden goal behind them.

Ole Miss started the season with a perfect 7-0 record, including a 3-0 start against SEC opponents. The Rebels then lost at LSU before bouncing back with a win over Texas A&M to reach 8-1 overall. That game in College Station would be the last time that Kiffin led Ole Miss to victory, as the Rebels lost their final four games to end the year.

By making such a splash, all of the talk around Ole Miss is about the loaded quarterback room. In Finebaum’s eyes, that move by Kiffin was completely by design.

“Well you could look at it a couple of different ways,” Finebaum said Monday on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning. “He’s got the best quarterback room in the country, or he’s got problems ahead. I think in Lane’s case, he’s trying to mask a really bad finish to the season and a subpar recruiting class.

“I mean this is a guy that always has one finger on the send button on Twitter, and he’s very cognitive of what goes on on social media, he knows what’s said about him and he’s always trying to change the narrative. And I think by getting these two players, he has done that. But you’re right, anybody who can’t start asking questions about what he has is foolish.”

The final four games of the season included a six-point loss at home against Alabama and a 15-point defeat at Arkansas. Ole Miss then lost 24-22 in the Egg Bowl against Mississippi State before falling 42-25 to Texas Tech in the Texas Bowl.

According to the On3 Consensus Team Rankings, Ole Miss brings in the No. 29 overall 2023 recruiting class. Ten SEC teams sit above Ole Miss in the rankings.

Finebaum believes Kiffin’s decisions could result in Jaxson Dart’s departure

Ole Miss brought in Dart prior to the 2022 season, adding him through the portal after spending his freshman campaign at USC in 2021. He saw mixed results as the Rebels’ starter, completing 62.4 percent of his passes for 2,974 yards with 20 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Dart also added 614 yards and one touchdown with his legs.

Dart definitely showed potential, and he was under center for Ole Miss’ 7-0 start. But the decision to bring in two quarterbacks was a notable one. In four years at Oklahoma State, Sanders threw for 9,553 yards with 67 touchdowns and 40 interceptions. He also had 1,956 yards and 18 touchdowns on the ground.

Howard played sparingly as a freshman this year at LSU, sitting behind Jayden Daniels and Garrett Nussmeier. Even though he attempted just four passes, Howard arguably has the highest cieling of anyone in the Ole Miss QB room. He was rated as a four-star recruit in the 2022 class, coming in as the No. 6-rated quarterback, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

That’s enough to seriously put Dart’s future into question.

“In Jaxson Dart’s case, it’s too late to get into the portal now in this session, but I’m sure he’s looking around for the next one,” Finebaum added.