The Ole Miss offense is keeping a near full set for 2024 after Tre Harris announcement
It it hard for any college football offense that is one of the best in the sport to maintain longevity and consistency pre-transfer portal or before. Somehow Ole Miss and Lane Kiffin have managed to nearly pull off the impossible.
On Monday Tre Harris was the latest to announce his intentions to return to the Rebels in 2024, ensuring a near full-set of top producers back on the field next fall. Harris joins Jordan Watkins and Caden Prieskorn, who announced their plans to return over the weekend.
Ole Miss got 75 percent of the group who that had a decision to make of either come back for one final season or begin their respective paths to the NFL Draft and playing on Sundays next September. Harris was high on the list of the four that would make sense and hard to fault if he chose to begin his professional career.
Instead, Harris remains but Dayton Wade is the one who will head off to the NFL after wrapping up his Ole Miss career with the Peach Bowl.
Losing Wade for next year stings as it does not allow for Ole Miss to keep the band together, as it were, but the Rebels are still in a strong position as far as returning production is concerned.
The returning trio of Harris, Watkins and Prieskorn accounted for 1,905 of the 5,465 total yards of offense or nearly 35 percent of the offensive production. You add in Quinshon Judkins’ 1,187 total yards and the Rebels are getting 56.5 percent of this year’s production back on the field for 2024.
This quartet also accounts for 29 touchdowns this season.
Junior quarterback Jaxson Dart and his numbers are not even in this equation, yet, as is still keeping his official future plans still to himself. Dart walked back the announcement Kiffin made during Reb Talk last month of him returning for a final season and has yet to change his stance.
Dart threw for 2,985 yards and 20 touchdowns while rushing for 375 yards and seven touchdowns on 111 carries in the regular season.
The Ole Miss offense has loaded up the cupboard and this is only with the players who had the option to leave.
There was plenty of potential already in the Manning Performance center that was already returning next year, including Ayden Williams and Cayden Lee. The freshman duo combined for 165 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Lee was responsible for both touchdowns after having a 1.000 percent catch rate with two receptions for 85 yards. Williams entered fall camp with all the hype and potential after being the state’s top prospect on offense but finished the season rather quietly with 80 yards and zero touchdowns on four catches.
Along with the rising sophomores Ole Miss is adding the nation’s top junior college receiver in Deion Smith who committed to the Rebels after a banner season with Holmes Community College this fall.
The receivers room is not close to be completed as Kiffin is still recruiting South Carolina receiver Juice Wells. The Gamecocks top receiver entered the transfer portal last week and spent the entire weekend in Oxford after canceling his visit with Texas.
Securing Wells would only make this Ole Miss wide receiver corps add another infinity stone to its gauntlet with what is already in a Rebel uniform for next season.
