Ole Miss Football: 3 biggest questions left after spring camp

2. Does Eric Swinney take command of the backfield?

One of the biggest losses for Ole Miss after the 2017 campaign is 1,000-yard rusher Jordan Wilkins. As a program notoriously known for having troubles with the ground game in the past five years, it was a positive surprise to see Wilkins find so much running room last season.

The second most experienced returning rusher for the Rebels this year is the to-be redshirt junior Eric Swinney. Yet, the most experienced overall is another rising junior rusher in D’Vaughn Pennamon, who also was second in rushing yards in 2017 to only Wilkins.

Since Pennamon spent the spring game on the sideline due to injury, similar to Lodge, Swinney got the first team reps alongside Ta’amu. Swinney also seems like the favorite to win the starting job for the Rebels come fall. Pennamon should still get a good helping of carries too.

The encouraging news for the Ole Miss fan base surrounding the state of the backfield is that both Swinney and Pennamon is that they both averaged more than 4.0 yards per carry in 2017. In fact, Swinney was closer to the 5.0 yards per carry mark last year, racking up nearly 200 rushing yards altogether.