Ole Miss football transfer portal priorities: Three positions for Lane Kiffin to target

OXFORD — The NCAA transfer portal does not open for most players until Dec. 4, but Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss football already will be gearing up.

The Rebels are no longer unique in their willingness to attack the transfer portal for reinforcements. It's a practice embraced by most programs across the country, and there will be plenty of competition for the top talent.

The roster picture in Oxford, always chaotic these days, is especially unclear, with NFL decisions still to be made by some Rebels and outgoing transfers likely to take place as well.

Still, there are a few positions where it's already clear that Ole Miss will need some help in 2024.

Ole Miss transfer portal targets

Offensive line

It's a rather safe assumption that Ole Miss will add difference-making skill players on offense. The Rebels look set to return plenty of skill position talent, and, even if they don't, Kiffin's track record in the portal is strong.

What could determine Ole Miss' ceiling in 2024, though, is whether the Rebels can secure quality offensive line reinforcements. Heading into championship weekend, Pro Football Focus rated Ole Miss in the bottom half of the SEC in both run blocking and pass blocking.

The Rebels will lose two members of their regular starting five on the offensive line in Quincy McGee and Victor Curne. Caleb Warren and Jeremy James are eligible to return for one final season if they choose, with Micah Pettus also set to return barring a transfer.

The offensive line is not a position where Kiffin has recruited effectively since his arrival. Brycen Sanders in last year's class was the first four-star prospect the Rebels have signed since Kiffin took over, according to the 247Sports Composite ratings. Two more are set to sign with the 2024 class, but immediate help is necessary at a position where development typically takes more time.

Everyone else will be chasing it, too.

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Cornerback

Kiffin provided a not-so-subtle hint that Ole Miss needs help at this position when asked about freshman Chris Graves, who earned a start on the road against Georgia in Week 11.

"Chris has done a great job, especially for getting here that late and being such a young player," Kiffin said on Nov. 13. "It says a lot about how seriously he took the approach coming in. Also would show you our lack of depth at the position too, to bring a young kid in that late. Not just bring him in, but then they go and end up playing for you a lot. Says a lot about those situations."

Deantre Prince, ever-present for the Rebels at one of the cornerback spots this season, is set to exhaust his eligibility, further depleting the depth Ole Miss can turn to at that slot.

First-year defensive coordinator Pete Golding did an outstanding job raiding the transfer portal for role players to slot in at the secondary positions last offseason. He will likely have to do the same again.

Linebacker

Ole Miss brought in two plug-and-play linebackers last offseason in Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste and Monty Montgomery. With both out of eligibility at the end of this season, it would benefit the Rebels to go portal shopping once again.

Montgomery fell down the depth chart as the season went on, but Jean-Baptiste led Ole Miss in snaps at the position. Ashanti Cistrunk, another key contributor, is also out of eligibility.

That leaves Ladarius Tennison, who has played a lot of box safety for the Rebels this season, and Khari Coleman as the only players with eligibility remaining at the position who played more than 300 snaps during the regular season.

It's a spot where Golding has shown a strong tendency to rotate, so more contributors are almost certainly needed.

Suntarine Perkins' positional future is also worth monitoring here, too. Perkins was used almost exclusively as an edge rusher during his true freshman season. The former five-star prospect played a more traditional linebacker role in high school.

David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.

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This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Ole Miss football should target these three positions in transfer portal