Lane Kiffin’s QB’s & why Ole Miss is Here to Stay

Chris Robison may not be a name that comes to mind for Ole Miss fans. Matt Corral and Jaxson Dart however are. So what do all three of these former and current quarterbacks under Lane Kiffin have in common? They all spent two years as the starting quarterback for their respective teams under Kiffin; Corral and Dart at Ole Miss, and Robison at Florida Atlantic University.

In year one as starter for each of their tenures, the three quarterbacks went a combined 216-of-330 throwing for 8,851 yards with 61 touchdowns and 37 interceptions. Their combined record was 18-19.

In year two as a starter for each of their tenures, the quarterbacks so far have gone a combined 713-of-1,105 for 9,517 yards with 64 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. Their combined record to-date is 29-7. And mind you, Jaxson Dart still has three games left to play this season.

Sure, about a lot of teams you can say that their quarterback improves from year one to year two as the starter. However, not all teams have a quarterback and offensive minded guru as their head coach. And Ole Miss has that in Kiffin.

Lane Kiffin’s QB’s & why Ole Miss is here to stay

Further benefiting the Rebels is the expected return of quarterback Jaxson Dart for his senior season next year, which would be his third as the starter. Dart is also expected to be joined by then to be junior running back, Quinshon Judkins, who led the SEC in touchdowns last season with 17, and ranks first so far again this year with 12.

All signs and numbers point to Dart having a spectacular senior campaign which could see him in the Heisman conversation, and the Rebels easily in the conversation for the SEC title and their first ever trip to Atlanta if they don’t do it this year. This would also be Kiffin’s first time he’s had a starting quarterback for the third straight season.

If Kiffin stays around in Oxford, they’re loaded behind Dart as well projecting for 2025 and beyond with current redshirt freshman and LSU transfer Walker Howard who would be entering his junior season as the projected starter. The four-star recruit was the 42nd overall prospect in the ESPN 300 class of 2022. Behind Howard is early enrollee and true freshman Austin Simmons who enrolled this fall. According to On3, Simmons was a four-star recruit from the class of 2025 before deciding to head to Oxford early to join the Rebels.

The improvement in these areas from year one to two is more than noticeable. And now Kiffin has the depth behind it where even year one with a new starting quarterback may see the Rebels take off more consistently.

Time will tell, but numbers and recruiting say that the Rebels are here to stay as long as Kiffin does as a top tier team in the SEC.

Check out my other articles on how Lane Kiffin staying under Nick Saban paid dividends, as well I think Ole Miss will go undefeated the rest of the way in 2023.