With national signing day approaching on Wednesday, here is a look at what Ole Miss’ 2017 football recruiting class currently looks like, with a few takeaways and things to look out for in the coming days. The star rankings are according to 247Sports.
Early Enrollees
Breon Dixon (Loganville, GA) 4 Star Inside Linebacker, 6’0”, 218 lbs.
Markel Winters (Ellisville, MS) 3 Star Defensive End, 6’4″, 260 lbs.
Brendan Williams (Boonesville, MS) 3 Star Inside Linebacker, 6’3 ½ , 230 lbs.
Javien Hamilton (Ellisville, MS) 3 Star Cornerback, 5’10, 170 lbs.
Jordan Ta’amu (Roswell, NM) 3 Star Dual-Threat Quarterback, 6’3, 200 lbs.
Ryder Anderson (Katy, TX) 3 Star Defensive End, 6-7, 230 lbs.
Commits
D.D. Bowie (Morton, MS) 4 Star Wide Receiver, 6’1, 170 lbs.
Josh Clarke (New Orleans, LA) 3 Star Outside Linebacker, 6’3, 225 lbs.
A.J. Harris (Madison, AL) 3 Star Safety, 6’0, 190 lbs.
Jamar Richardson (Aliceville, AL) 3 Star Cornerback, 5’11 ½ , 167 lbs.
Larrell Murchison (Louisburg, NC) 3 Star Defensive End, 6’4, 277 lbs.
Ben Brown (Vicksburg, MS) 3 Star Offensive Tackle, 6’6, 290 lbs.
Lavante Epson (Greenville, MS) 3 Star Offensive Guard, 6’3, 315 lbs.
Alex Faniel (Glen Allen, VA) 3 Star Pro-Quarterback, 6’5, 225 lbs.
- The Rebels currently have six signees who have enrolled in school and eight commits. That could obviously change and likely will to some degree before the signing period is over. Keep in mind Ole Miss has already docked four scholarships as a part of self-imposed sanctions stemming from its four-year long NCAA investigation, so in theory, Ole Miss has seven spots left.
2. D.D. Bowie has been committed to Ole Miss for more than a year now, but lately he has been wavering on his commitment, largely due to Mississippi State making a late push. This investigation has been quite the obstacle in the path of the Rebels’ recruiting efforts, and losing Bowie would be another tremendous blow. Bowie would likely play defensive back if he came to Ole Miss, which is a position of need and would be a nice complement to a number of young corners and safeties the Rebels added in last year’s class.
3. Ole Miss was horrible when it came to defending the run in 2016, and a big part of that was the linebacker play (or lack thereof). Ole Miss has done well to address this. It has two linebackers already enrolled, which is nice in terms of security and getting them through spring practice with the rest of the team. The Rebels also have another one committed in Josh Clarke. This was a weakness on the field that Ole Miss has done a good job of improving this offseason.
4. Matt Luke has tried to develop offensive line depth in the last couple of years, and the Rebels only have two commits so far. Ole Miss has made a hard push at three-star offensive tackle Tony Gray out of Lawrenceville, Georgia, and would be a useful pickup should it land him. This is an area in which the Rebels would like to ink a couple more to add to this class.
5. Larrel Murchison is a defensive end committed to the Rebels, but Georgia has made a run at the 6-foot-4-inch, 277-pound prospect of late. It will likely come down to these two for him on signing day.
