A current Ole Miss wide receiver's perspective on the quarterback competition between Jaxson Dart and Luke Altmyer

Ole Miss is in its third week of spring football practices. 

And, honestly, transfer wide receiver Jordan Watkins has seen an even quarterback battle so far. 

Two players — second-year Rebel Luke Altmyer and USC transfer Jaxson Dart — are vying to replace Matt Corral, an All-SEC selection in 2021-22. Corral is a projected first-round selection in the NFL Draft later this month. In his final two seasons at Ole Miss, he threw for 6,686 yards and 49 touchdowns on 9.4 yards per pass attempt.

Altmyer, a former consensus four-star, was Corral’s primary back-up last season. Dart is also a former four-star, and he finished with 1,353 yards, nine touchdowns and five interceptions as a true freshman for the Trojans. Ole Miss closes out the spring with the annual Grove Bowl game April 23.

“Jaxson’s special,” Watkins, an exclusive NIL partner of the Ole Miss Spirit said. He’s sponsored by Leblanc CPA in Metairie, La., and Ben Still of Bluff City Advisory in Memphis, Tenn. They can be reached at 504-837-0770 and 901-365-3447, respectively.

“He’s still young. He still only has a year under his belt of college, and that shows a little bit. I think his biggest thing that he needs to work on is when he makes a mistake not getting down on himself. As a quarterback, everybody is kind of looking at you for all the answers, and I know that has to be hard. That’s what comes with the position — everybody’s looking at you when stuff goes wrong.

“I think that’s something he really needs to work on himself — being positive whenever stuff doesn’t always go your way. He’s an exceptional quarterback. He throws the deep ball really well; he throws the ball really well in general. His mechanics are really good. He’s going to be pretty special, and our team’s going to be pretty special as well.”

Altmyer didn’t see much time behind Corral.

However, when Corral was injured in the Sugar Bowl in January, Altmyer stepped in. He was 15 for 28 for 178 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in a 21-7 Ole Miss loss. The Rebels finished the year with a 10-3 overall record.

“Luke’s kind of the same way, really,” Watkins said. “They’re both very similar. Luke throws a really good deep ball, and I think Luke’s a little calmer than Jaxson. He’s calm, cool and collected. Kind of working on whenever stuff goes wrong just kind of being that guy that kind of calms everything down. 

“If you look at it, if you go back and watch a lot of tape of Matt Corral, whenever there’s a mistake made, he’s always on the sideline getting his guys right and making sure everybody’s on the same page a little bit. Just being that coach that’s not really a coach. As far as the quarterback room goes, I think that’s the next step that needs to come. But (Luke) throws the deep ball really well and his mechanics are really good. They’re both similar quarterbacks.”

Watkins transferred to Ole Miss from Louisville in January. 

He started all 12 games for the Cardinals last season and totaled 35 catches for 529 yards and four touchdowns. He’s being utilized as the team’s primary slot in the spring — the position formerly held by record-setting receivers Elijah Moore and Dontario Drummond in third-year head coach Lane Kiffin’s up-tempo offense.

When asked, Watkins really couldn’t say which quarterback has a leg up. Actually, he sees a competition that likely stretches into the fall.

“I can’t really tell you. It really is that even,” he said. “They both bring a lot of good stuff to the table. I think the coaches are going to have a tough decision on their hands whenever it comes to making that final decision of who is the starting quarterback.”