Re: OT Drew Richmond Commits to Ole Miss
so OM loses Leo Lewis and Richmond. you know what they say about karma....
And they thought they had Jefferson, too. Well, they'll always have 1963.
Richmond was the only true loss for them, in fairness. Lewis is all but certainly a place-and-sign kid headed for JUCO, and those who thought they really knew what Jefferson was doing were just kidding themselves.
Real problem for Ole Miss wasn't necessarily the top-end of the class, where they got some decent talent -- Jones, Lodge, Bridges, Patterson, Custis, and a solid talent at QB in Kelly (if he can stay out of trouble) -- the problem is that depth just isn't there. You browse through their signee list and you can find a lot of guys who are either long-term developmental projects at best or who just don't have the look of quality SEC signees. It's a slightly better class than Ole Miss typically signs, but it's a shell of what they signed two years back, and it's not really the kind of class that is likely to keep them firmly placed in the top half of the SEC. Frankly, given the on-field success that they had last season, they hoped (and needed) to net a better haul.
Individually, the bigger miss was a lack of a true interior runner at tailback. They need that interior run game to come to life for that offense to really take off, and I don't see a back that they have right now that can get it done. Ideally, get a decent contribution at QB next year out of Kelly, get a respectable run game, and then have a decent-enough offense to win a lot of games when put together with what should be a strong defensive unit once again. Lack of a true interior runner hamstrings them in that regard though.
I suppose the hope for Ole Miss now is just that they can somehow put it all together next year -- surprise offensive showing, win close games, fumble luck, etc. -- and post another 9-10 win season before all of those 2012 signees (Tunsil, Nkemdiche, Connor, Treadwell, etc.) all turn pro early. Maybe with that they can garner enough recruiting momentum to put together another class somewhat similar to what they did in 2012.