{"id":86245,"date":"2026-04-01T09:00:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T13:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=86245"},"modified":"2026-04-01T06:06:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T10:06:20","slug":"deuce-alexander-starts-hot-at-ole-miss-spring-practice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2026\/04\/01\/deuce-alexander-starts-hot-at-ole-miss-spring-practice\/","title":{"rendered":"Deuce Alexander Starts Hot at Ole Miss Spring Practice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ole Miss fans have grown accustomed to hearing the name Deuce Alexander<\/a>. Despite only being a Rebel for one season, Alexander became known for making huge catches in key moments during the 2025 season. And that was while he was playing a slightly lesser role on a roster that had a loaded receiving corps.<\/p>\n

Now, he’s entering his second season in Oxford. With that, he’s expected to have a much larger role in the passing game. And based on the early days of spring practice for the Rebels, it’s a role he seems to be enjoying.<\/p>\n

\n

No. 1 @Deuceisloose3<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/JJz47pTxhM<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) March 27, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, where did Alexander come from, and what can Ole Miss fans expect to see from him in his new role in 2026?<\/p>\n

Deuce Alexander: Ole Miss’s WR1 in 2026?<\/h2>\n

Early Career Prior to Ole Miss<\/h3>\n

Despite being the son of a former NFL receiver, Alexander doesn’t give much away physically. He stands at a modest 6’0, and only weighs roughly 180 pounds. That doesn’t scream elite Division I wide receiver. However, despite being undersized, he used his catch radius and track star speed to become a three-star recruit out of high school. Following a high school career that saw him catch 105 passes for 1,435 yards at Douglas County High School in Georgia, he committed to Wake Forest, where he spent two seasons.<\/p>\n

As a true freshman in 2023, he saw action in only two games, catching two passes for 30 yards and a touchdown. The following season, as a redshirt freshman, he played in all 12 games for the Demon Deacons. That season, he brought in 36 passes for 400 yards and two touchdowns. Following the 2024 season, he then entered the transfer portal, committing to Ole Miss to play for Lane Kiffin.<\/p>\n

Alexander’s First Season as a Rebel<\/h3>\n

Coming to Ole Miss, there’s a good chance Alexander knew he may play a smaller role in what was a solid Ole Miss receiving corps. But in an up-tempo offense led by Lane Kiffin and Charlie Weis Jr, he still had plenty of opportunities to make plays. And he made the most of them. In 2025, he caught 44 passes for 684 yards and two touchdowns.<\/p>\n

Following the season, despite Kiffin and Weis Jr both leaving for LSU, Alexander decided to stay in Oxford. And with Trinidad Chambliss<\/a> winning his eligibility case<\/a>, it appears that he’ll be entering the season with a Heisman candidate throwing him passes.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the Rebels’ new offensive coordinator, John David Baker<\/a>, runs a similar scheme to what Weis Jr runs. So while the terminology may change, the system won’t appear that much different. This should help the transition for Alexander and the rest of the offense, in terms of preparing for 2026.<\/p>\n

Expectations for Alexander in 2026?<\/h2>\n

Ole Miss is losing their top three receivers from last year’s squad. This means a lot of new faces and a lot of inexperienced guys who haven’t seen much playing time. For Alexander, this is going to leave plenty of room for him to take the reins as the primary target for Chambliss this season. In terms of receivers, Caleb Cunningham<\/a> is another guy who is entering his second year in Oxford. And while he may have bigger size, he only appeared in three games last season as a freshman, meaning Alexander has more of a connection with Chambliss.<\/p>\n

Ole Miss also has guys like Darrell Gill Jr<\/a> transferring from Syracuse and Horatio Fields<\/a> transferring from Auburn, among a few other transfers. But the connection and trust that has already been built with Alexander and Chambliss likely gives him the edge as we head towards next season.<\/p>\n

Another key for Alexander is his speed. Not only is he a deep threat in the passing game, but he can also be used in the rushing game, too, in terms of sweeps that can get run out of the backfield. Last year, he carried the ball 19 times for 122 yards. In a similar offense, he’s likely going to see plenty of carries once again. It won’t be an every possession occurrence, but it is a threat if they need to keep defenses off balance.<\/p>\n

Area of Improvement to Take the Next Step<\/h3>\n

While Alexander has the chance to become one of the most electric players in the sport because of his athleticism and speed, there is one area that needs to improve. That is, if he wants to take the next step towards becoming the primary target for the Rebels.<\/p>\n

Put simply, that area of improvement is his hands. More importantly, making the routine catches. While he never seems to struggle with the highlight reel-type grabs, he did struggle at times last season with the routine, intermediate routes, and making the easy catches.<\/p>\n

As the lead guy, there can’t be questions about making the easy plays. Those have to be automatic. If Alexander can work on becoming more consistent with his speed, he has a real chance to become a major problem for defenses in 2026.<\/p>\n

Main Image: \u00a0Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ole Miss fans have grown accustomed to hearing the name Deuce Alexander. Despite only being a Rebel for one season, Alexander became known for making huge catches in key moments during the 2025 season. And that was while he was playing a slightly lesser role on a roster that had a loaded receiving corps. Now, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4571,"featured_media":86254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_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":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,35582,3],"tags":[4470],"class_list":["post-86245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-ole-miss-rebels","category-sec","tag-pete-golding"],"modified_by":"Tony Siracusa, CFB Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86245","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\/4571"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86245"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86245\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86256,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86245\/revisions\/86256"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}