National Signing Day 2016: Ole Miss football recruiting class
The Ole Miss Rebels have welcomed a new crop of talented players to campus, announcing the 2016 Ole Miss football recruiting class on National Signing Day.
Hugh Freeze has done it again. Three years after landing the greatest class in Ole Miss football history – and seeing the nucleus of that group leave early for the NFL following 17 wins across three seasons, including the first 10-win campaign for the program since 2003 – the head coach of the Rebels has put together a recruiting class that could be even better.
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In 2013, Ole Miss landed five-star standouts Robert Nkemdiche, Laremy Tunsil and Laquon Treadwell. All three are likely to be first round NFL Draft picks this spring. Will we say the same about Benito Jones, Greg Little and Shea Patterson in 2019?
Jones and Little are natural replacements for Nkemdiche and Tunsil at defensive tackle and offensive tackle, respectively, with Jones most likely to play immediately because he will participate in spring drills and because the Rebels also graduated starting nose tackle Woodrow Hamilton. Little, a Texas native will compete for playing time this spring and has the talent to replace either Tunsil or Fahn Cooper at tackle as a true freshman.
Others expected to contribute right away are a pair of highly coveted junior college players, safety Myles Hartsfield and linebacker David Luafatasaga.
As for Patterson, the No. 1 pro-style quarterback prospect in the country according to 247Sports, which makes him Ole Miss’ highest rated QB prospect since Eli Manning, the Florida native will probably play sparingly or redshirt because Chad Kelly will be back in Oxford for his senior season.
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As a whole, the Ole Miss recruiting class includes three five-star prospects and cleaned up on National Signing Day with commitments from A.J. Brown, Deontay Anderson and Jacob Mathis as the Rebels class could be even better than the one Freeze had in 2013.
Complete 2016 Ole Miss Football Recruiting Class:
Note: All rankings mentioned come from 247Sports unless otherwise noted.