FILE PHOTO Wide receiver Laqoun Treadwell fights off defensive back Derrick Jones during the annual Grove Bowl scrimmage last year.
Each year, the Grove Bowl offers fans a chance to see how newcomers on the team will perform in game action during the regular season and how some of the competitive position battles of spring practice are playing out.
The most talked-about opening, and the one that will surely continue into fall practices, is who will replace record-breaking quarterback Bo Wallace as the signal caller for the Rebels. The three-way competition will result in the reps on Saturday being split between junior college transfer Chad Kelly and rising redshirt sophomores DeVante Kincade and Ryan Buchanan. The Grove Bowl should give a glimpse of which player has the best grasp of the offense so far and if the quarterbacks have begun to separate themselves from the pack.
It will also be interesting to see to whom the quarterbacks will be handing off the ball on Saturday. The starting running back position will stay with rising senior Jaylen Walton, who had his second straight year with over 500 yards rushing and over 200 yards receiving in 2014. The spot behind him remains uncertain, though, as multiple backs transferred from the team after the season including Mark Dodson and I’Tavius Mathers.
Sophomore Jordan Wilkins seems primed to take on a bigger role next season and will have an excellent chance to show off his bruising running style in the Grove Bowl.
Junior Akeem Judd should also get plenty of touches in the game. Judd brings a power running style as well as soft hands out of the backfield. Judd redshirted last season, so this will be the first chance for many fans to see him in action and a great chance for him to catch the eye of the coaches.
The Grove Bowl will also provide some great action at the wide receiver position. Once junior wide-receiver Laquon Treadwell recovers from his leg injury, he will surely slide back into the number one spot. The team also returns senior Cody Core, who will likely be at the number two or three spot for the Rebels. Plenty of wide receivers will be trying to break into the depth chart behind them. Transfer wide receiver Damore’ea Stringfellow will be getting his first action in front of the home fans and will look to add to an already impressive spring. Stringfellow, a redshirt sophomore, has great size at six-foot-three, 229 pounds and could fill in at inside or outside receiver. Sophomore Markell Pack, who stepped into a much bigger role at the end of last season, will seek to show that he can continue to fill that role next. Pack will likely spend a lot of time at slot wide receiver in the game. Junior Quincy Adeboyejo also showed a lot of growth at the end of the season and will be battling for time at outside and inside wide receiver. A big performance by Stringfellow, Pack or Adeboyejo could give one them an advantage in trying to earn a starting spot in the fall.
Senior Collins Moore, freshmen Dayall Harris and Sammie Epps and junior Derrick Jones could also play a big role in the Grove Bowl and could see a good amount of time during the season. Harris and Epps were both redshirted, and Moore has been injury-ridden the past few seasons, so it will be interesting to see Harris and Epps get more time and to see how Moore has recovered from his injuries. Derrick Jones will be an interesting player to watch as the former defensive back is completing his transition to wide receiver, which he started last season.
