Ole Miss football struggled through the SEC West in 2018, but were able to pull a pretty decent signing class. Who is poised to make an impact for the Rebels?
The Ole Miss Rebels have struggled to put together much of anything consistent after the whole Hugh Freeze debacle. Now, they are finally able to play in the postseason and are looking to put together a better season that what they have had the past couple years. Which 2019 recruits can make an instant impact in the coming season for this team?
Two important early enrollees joining the secondary are Jamar Richardson and Jalen Jordan. Both are cornerbacks, the first a JUCO transfer and the other coming out of high school. However, both are poised to make strong berths into the Ole Miss program. Both deserve an honorable mention before we get into my top 5 instant impact players.
We start things off with a JUCO transfer who has already enrolled and working out with the team, getting ready for spring practice, Jonathan Hayes. He comes from Jones County J.C. where he played quite well. He totaled 44 tackles and a team-high three interceptions as a sophomore in 2018. In 2017, his freshman year, he made 30 tackles and pulled down one interception. Now, he makes the move to an SEC school in Ole Miss.
The hope is that this early enrollee will bolster the secondary that Ole Miss has struggled to put together. They haven’t done much of anything on the defensive side of the ball honestly, but are constantly burned on the secondary front during conference play and otherwise. Now, the No. 4 JUCO safety in the nation according to 247Sports is headed to Oxford and looks to fix things for the “Land Sharks” as they call themselves right now- who knows if they’ll change mascots yet again.