Walker Howard evaluates his performance in Ole Miss spring game

This offseason, quarterback Walker Howard transferred from LSU to Ole Miss, joining in a three-way quarterback competition.

The first leg of that competition came to an end with the Ole Miss spring game. After that game, Howard broke down the offense, praising all of the quarterbacks.

“I think both sides of offense, the blue and red teams, I think everyone did a great job,” Walker Howard said after the spring game.

“The quarterbacks did a great job, and the offensive line killed it today. I thought our running backs made plays, the receivers, obviously, were out there making plays all day today. It was a good day overall.”

Walker Howard was a four-star recruit and the sixth ranked quarterback in the Class of 2022, according to the On3 Industry Rankings. He’s competing against Jaxson Dart, who started for Ole Miss last season, and Oklahoma State transfer Spencer Sanders for the starting job.

Head coach Lane Kiffin was also happy with how his quarterbacks played during the spring game.

“I thought all three guys made plays, made out of rhythm competitive plays,” Lane Kiffin said. “I thought earlier there were some really good in-rhythm timing plays, especially some passes to the backs. So, and then they made some as they went along. You could see the heat, the tempo, wear down the defense and guys made a lot of plays when the defensive rush was tired.”

On top of that, Kiffin also said that bringing in Howard and Dart wasn’t necessarily about finding a new starter but about building good depth at the position.

“So, the idea was in the offseason to improve that room. Make it competitive. Bring new guys in. So, it’s not just competitive like everybody thinks for the first spot. It just means you have a better room.”

Lane Kiffin on quarterbacks pushing Jaxson Dart

Lane Kiffin has praised the new quarterback additions of Walker Howard and Spencer Sanders recently. In particular, he praised them for their ability to learn the offense and push Jaxson Dart.

“I think they’re doing a really good job. Both are learning new systems that are very different from the systems that they were in. And then Spencer has been limited from a physical standpoint,” Kiffin explained.

“I think any time you have new guys like that? They’ll usually be behind. And then you’ll see a jump late in the spring or in early fall camp.”