Ole Miss has a quarterback battle. No, of course it’s not for QB 1. That position is settled, as Heisman hopeful Trinidad Chambliss fought the NCAA over the offseason, and won his sixth season of eligibility. He returns and there is no question that this is his team.
The battle is for Chambliss’ backup, a coveted role being challenged for by Auburn transfer Deuce Knight, veteran returnee A.J. Maddox and portal transfer Walker Howard, who found his way back to Ole Miss after Lane Kiffin’s departure. Howard, of course, transferred to Ole Miss from LSU prior to leaving for Louisiana=Lafayette and is now in his second stint with the Rebels.
Knight and Howard are both former five-star prospects in the high school ranks, while Maddox was a consensus four-star who won a state championship at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in his last high school game.
We asked Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding about the battle for QB2 on Monday. Golding indicated we won’t know an answer until likely game week versus Louisville when official depth charts are released.
And we may have to still wait and see this fall. Of course, there could be that infamous “or” beside QB2 on the depth chart.
Former five-star high school prospect and Auburn quarterback Deuce Knight.
Here’s what Golding had to say Monday about the question of who might be Trinidad’s backup. Spoiler alert: He did not name names…
“I think is putting them in those situations and kind of removing your emotions once you get through it,” Golding said of the battle to be the backup. “And let’s really look at the stats and the grades and the production. Because so many times it could have been a receiver that doesn’t catch it…it wasn’t the quarterback’s fault…it could have been an issue up front and he doesn’t get a clean pocket. So, for me, I’m really anxious to get to next week as far as let’s really look at it and go in-depth.
“Right now, if we were going to have to play, who would we run out there second? Because a lot of them have flash and have done some really good things, but I think that position more than any…especially when you have a talented team…they don’t make more plays against you than they do for you…When you’ve got really good players, make sure you are controlling the game and controlling the football and making really good decision so that we don’t lose the game. I think more games are lost than are won.
“You’ve got to step back in order to really see that. If not I think it can become really emotional, and I think sometimes we use our feelings based on how we think about a kid than his mindset and all of those. At the end of the day, does he give us our best chance to win the football game?
“We’ve got some guys in that room that have played before. We’ve got a couple that haven’t at this level. They’ve got a lot of talent. I think it’s sitting down next week and really evaluating what type of spring did they actually have. Not what we think. We’re actually going back and looking at it and grading it.”