For the past 15 months, the Ole Miss Football program has been synonymous with NCAA investigation and lack of success on the field. \u00a0Every major college football program goes through highs and lows. \u00a0The most important thing for every program that is experiencing a low point is to cling to any sort of stability that it can. \u00a0Whether it be a player, a coach, or a coaching philosophy, maintaining stability is paramount. \u00a0While there is a dark cloud over the program in Oxford, coaches and players can cling to the stability that the quarterback position will provide this season.<\/p>\n
This year, Ole Miss will see something its program has not seen in the past 13 seasons. \u00a0A quarterback that Ole Miss recruited straight from high school is entering fall camp firmly entrenched as the starting quarterback. Every year after Eli Manning<\/strong> graduated in 2003, Ole Miss either started a transfer at QB or did not have a clear cut starter for the entire season. \u00a0While some might consider this insignificant, it can make a huge difference for a program. \u00a0Recruiting and developing high school quarterbacks can create a brand that will attract other high school quarterbacks to a program. \u00a0It also saves a program from discipline or academic problems that often accompany transfer players. \u00a0This season, Ole Miss will show that they can indeed recruit and develop high school quarterbacks<\/p>\n The obvious place to start with this position breakdown is sophomore, Shea Patterson<\/strong>. There is not much to be critical of with Patterson. \u00a0He has the arm, the athleticism, and the leadership capabilities. \u00a0The only things that some might point fingers at with him are his size (6-2, 203) and the fact that he is a quarterback that wears #20. \u00a0In 2016, Patterson started the final three games of the season. \u00a0He busted onto the scene with an upset win against Texas A&M at Kyle Field, going \u00a025 of 42 for 338 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. \u00a0However, Ole Miss dropped both games against Vanderbilt and Mississippi State. \u00a0While Patterson was not the main problem, there is definitely room for improvement. \u00a0Patterson is also playing in the perfect offense for his skill set. \u00a0Offensive coordinator, Phil Longo, is an air raid disciple and plans to throw it and throw it a lot. \u00a0Expect Patterson to put up astonishing numbers this fall and possibly become a dark horse Heisman candidate.<\/p>\n While most fans around the country know of Patterson and what he brings to the table, depth is what makes a position group strong. \u00a0Patterson’s backup this season will be junior college transfer Jordan Ta’amu<\/strong>. \u00a0The native of Hawaii transfers in from the New Mexico Military Institute. \u00a0When Ta’amu arrived on campus this spring, coaches got what they expected in the passing game. \u00a0He was a guy who would show flashes but was not completely in sync with the playbook and his teammates. \u00a0However, coaches were somewhat caught off guard with the running ability the transfer possesses. \u00a0As Ta’amu gets more familiar with the playbook and his receivers, he could be a very reliable backup.<\/p>\n Redshirt sophomore\u00a0Jason Pellerin<\/strong> also returns this season. \u00a0While Pellerin will most likely be used more at the tight end position, he will still take reps at quarterback and could very well be used in the same way Barry Brunetti<\/strong> and Jeremy Liggins<\/strong> were used in the past. \u00a0Using him at quarterback in the run game could provide a bigger, more physical runner at the position and also save Patterson from taking a few hits.<\/p>\n Ole Miss also added a high school quarterback in this recruiting class. \u00a0Alex Faniel<\/strong>, a three star prospect, will most likely redshirt. \u00a0While he will most likely not see the field this season, there is still alot to like about this player. \u00a0Faniel has great size for a high school quarterback listed at 6-5 225. \u00a0He has a strong arm and is a gifted runner but is a very raw talent and will take time to develop.<\/p>\n Ole Miss has the opportunity to have one of the strongest quarterback units in the Southeastern Conference. \u00a0Shea Patterson has the opportunity to be one of the best players in College Football and one of the best that has ever played in Oxford. \u00a0While it is always good to have depth at quarterback, it is safe to assume that Ole Miss coaches and fans hope that everyone other than Patterson only has to play in wildcat or clean up situations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For the past 15 months, the Ole Miss Football program has been synonymous with NCAA investigation and lack of success on the field. \u00a0Every major college football program goes through highs and lows. \u00a0The most important thing for every program that is experiencing a low point is to cling to any sort of stability that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2156,"featured_media":7524,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,35582,3],"tags":[1927,71,1925,1926,258,20,1012],"class_list":["post-7490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-ole-miss-rebels","category-sec","tag-alex-faniel","tag-football","tag-jason-pellerin","tag-jordan-taamu","tag-ole-miss-rebels","tag-sec","tag-shea-patterson"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2156"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7490"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7490\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78124,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7490\/revisions\/78124"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The Star<\/h2>\n
The Backup<\/h2>\n
The Wildcard<\/h2>\n
The Project<\/h2>\n