The Fab Freshmen of Ole Miss

Exclusive of the names you may remember from the Ole Miss team which lost 66-31 to Texas last year at Oxford, a new class of freshmen joined an Ole Miss program coming off a 7-6 season on February 6, 2013. The class ranked seventh in the country according to Rivals, and included three five star recruits, all of which are already big contributors.

Ole Miss currently lists eight true freshman on it’s depth chart, with three (Nkemdiche, TE Evan Engram, and Laquon Treadwell) as starters.

Any discussion of the big three begins with current starter at defensive end, and 2013’s top rated recruit Robert Nkemdiche.

He was highly decorated in high school, being named a Super Prep, Under Armour, Max Preps, and USA Today All American selection. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Associated Press, and Georgia Athletic Coaches Association named him all State three consecutive seasons. Nkemdiche was an elite pass rusher, getting 41 sacks in high school. He also scored 10 touchdowns as a contributor on offense.

He is the preseason pick as SEC Newcomer of the Year by Lindy’s, SEC’s Top Impact Freshman by The Sporting News , and SEC Freshman of the Year by College Sports Madness. Additionally he is a  preseason first team Freshman All-American selection by Athlon and ESPN.com. Phil Steele selected him as third team preseason All SEC.  He is still a kid, but will present the trio of Texas offensive tackles a big matchup problem this weekend. Before it’s said and done, he may be a better pro prospect than current king of SEC defensive linemen, Jadaveon Clowney. In two games he already has seven tackles, three for a loss, and one pass break up.

Moving along, another big addition for the Rebels was WR Laquon Treadwell, who has already emerged as one of the preferred targets for Ole Miss QB Bo Wallace.

Treadwell was also highly touted coming out of high school, and was selected as an All American by USA Today, Max Preps, Super Preps, and Under Armour. He was listed as a five star prospect by every major service, and was a consensus top 30 prospect in the nation. Athlon’s selected Treadwell as a third team freshman All American.  Against Vanderbilt, Treadwell was the leading pass catcher with nine receptions for 82 yards. He did not play much against SE Missouri State as he was clearly not needed.  The 6-3, 215lb Treadwell will likely stay in the slot and will certainly be matched up with Quandre Diggs.

The other five star piece to the puzzle is current (for now) backup offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil, a 6-5 315lb manchild who will likely grow to rival Michael Oher as the best offensive linemen in the last 20 years for the Rebels.

In high school, Tunsil was an All American selection by USA Today, MaxPreps, Super Preps, and the US Army. He was a consensus five star prospect by all of the major recruiting services.  He was also rated as the top offensive tackle prospect in the country, and a consensus top 15 recruit in the country.  Tunsil was selected as a freshman All American by ESPN and a second team freshman All American by Athlon.

Texas had strong interest in Tunsil and Treadwell, but it never amounted to anything. Most never had Nkemdiche leaving the SEC or near home, though at one time he was committed to Clemson, but allegedly decommitted at the urging of his mother, who wanted him to play at Ole Miss with his brother.

No matter how Hugh Freeze got them (I’ll let you Google all the rumors and conjecture), he signed an amazing class which could catapult the Rebels program up the ranks of the SEC’s elite.