If you ask us, the Ole Miss Rebels are looking at one of the more important QB Battles in the CFB landscape right now. The Rebels started their 2022 campaign a solid 7-0 and we believe were even ranked in the Top 10 of the AP Poll. Unfortunately, they fell off a cliff only winning 1 of the next 6 games with that 1 win being a 3 pt victory over a very sad Texas A&M team. They understandably lost to SEC West Champ LSU. They also lost to Bama, which is not a shock (although they were in that game, losing by only 6 pts). Their other losses include Arkansas, Mississippi State, and Texas Tech, which are all winnable games. They kept the Mississippi State game within 2 pts, but got blown out by Arkansas(15 pts) and Texas Tech(17 pts), which makes no sense at all.

Here are Ole Miss’s Candidates:

• Junior Jaxson Dart- C/O 2021 4  Star
• Redshirt Senior Spencer Sanders- C/O 2018 4 Star
• Redshirt Freshman Walker Howard- C/O 2022 4 Star

Whether Sanders and Howard were recruited by Kiffin via the portal or just decided to go to Ole Miss on their own it means that Dart needs to watch his back… and rightfully so. All 5 of their losses can’t fully be pinned on Dart, but he also was less than stellar. It could mean he has to fight for the right to retain his job. After losing Matt Corral to the 2022 NFL Draft, Kiffin had to find his new starting QB. Kiffin decided to bring in Jaxson Dart from the portal last offseason to compete with Luke Altmyer. Dart transferred in from USC where he played due to the injury of Kedon Slovis in 2021.

I very clearly remember watching the 2022 Spring Game. Luke Altmyer outplayed Dart. Now granted Dart was new and spring games aren’t the be all, I still thought it was Altmyer’s job to lose. Dart ended up the starting QB, and Altmyer is now in Illinois. 

Walker Howard

The next up in the room is Walker Howard. In all honesty we don’t know too much about Walker. What we know is that he only saw action in one game this year for the LSU Tigers. It was in LSU’s 63-7 blowout Bowl win against Purdue. He went 2/4, 7 yards. He was also the 40th overall ranked prospect and the 5th ranked QB in the 2022 class. Howard should not be counted out in a QB competition with no real alpha.

Spencer Sanders

Finally, but certainly not last is the Oklahoma State transfer Spencer Sanders. Sanders was redshirted in 2018 before taking over as the Cowboys starter. Sanders has always been known more for his running ability than his throwing ability, and it shows in his stats.

• He’s never thrown for more than 3,000 yards.
• He’s only thrown for 20 TDs once in 2021
• He turns the ball over a ton. His TD-INT ratio is rough: 1.5(2019), 1.75(2020), 1.7(2021), 1.9(2022)

It’s also interesting to note that Sanders only led the Cowboys to one Big 12 Championship in his time as the starter and didn’t win it. The only reason we bring this up is because it feels like over the last few years the Big 12 has been relatively wide open. However, Sanders brings a new element to the offense if he were to start. Yes, we know in the LSU article we said bringing a new element to an offense doesn’t make you the better QB, but in Kiffin’s offense you kind of need a scheme player more than the best of the best. His offense is heavy quick strike throws,  RPO, and run options. With Sanders at the helm it could be a very scary offense. It could even bring out more from freshman standout Quinshon Judkins, and Ulysses Bentley who transferred in from SMU last offseason and should be RB2 now with Evans drafted into the NFL.

Our Prediction

We didn’t get a chance to watch the Ole Miss spring game this year, but we suspect that for now Dart is probably the favorite to keep his starting job. However, despite Dart probably being the favorite and knowing the system, we wouldn’t be surprised if he loses it quickly. We have to imagine that the final 6 games of the season left a really bad taste in the mouth of Kiffin. Howard and Sanders are not just there to compete for the job, but to push Dart and make him better in the scenario that he wins back his starting job. If you ask us though, we think there’s a legit chance that Sanders could steal it away, and make that offense lethal.