Here are Ole Miss football's top 2024 NFL Draft prospects
OXFORD — Four Ole Miss football products heard their names called at the 2023 NFL Draft over the weekend. So, who's next?
There's plenty of football separating us from the 2024 NFL Draft in Detroit. But, as things currently sit, here's a look at the Ole Miss players who stand the best chance of joining Jonathan Mingo, Tavius Robinson, Zach Evans and Nick Broeker in the professional ranks.
QB Jaxson Dart
At the conclusion of this year's spring game, Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart told reporters that his goal was to develop into a first-round draft pick. If he plays this fall like he did this spring, the former USC transfer and top-100 prospect can put himself into that conversation. At 6-foot-2, 220 pounds, Dart ‒ a junior this season ‒ has the frame, and there's very little question about his arm talent. Add in his mobility and there's no reason to think he won't be an intriguing quarterback prospect at the next level if he can make a jump with his decision-making in year two in Lane Kiffin's offense.
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TEs Caden Prieskorn and Michael Trigg
There are two potential NFL tight ends on Ole Miss' roster. One of them ‒ Caden Prieskorn ‒ has shown that at the college level already. Prieskorn caught 48 passes for 602 yards with seven touchdowns at Memphis last season. at 6-6 and 255 pounds, Prieskorn will have NFL teams knocking down his door if he can come anywhere close to that production in the SEC. Michael Trigg has not yet had his breakout season, frustrating Ole Miss fans at times last year with ineffectiveness and unavailability. His athleticism should make him a matchup nightmare for linebackers at any level, though. Because Ole Miss looks to be in line to use a lot of two-tight end sets this season, there might be scope for both of these players to show out enough to make the jump next year.
DT JJ Pegues
Owing to his background as a tight end, JJ Pegues is much more athletic than your average 315-pound defensive tackle, and that alone should make him an interesting NFL prospect. Having only made the college transition to the defensive line in 2021 while he was at Auburn, it stands to reason that there's some untapped upside with Pegues, too. He probably needs to take a step forward production-wise this season, but he's one to watch.
LB Khari Coleman
Pass-rushing ability is valuable currency in the NFL, and Khari Coleman has plenty of it. He finished second on the Rebels' roster with 4.5 sacks last season and tied for first with 10 tackles for loss, despite playing less than 50% of the available snaps on defense. His ability to showcase that strength might depend on how exactly he's used in Pete Golding's new defensive system ‒ the Rebels are transitioning from a three-man front to a four-man alignment ‒ so keep an eye on that early in the season.
WRs Jordan Watkins and Tre Harris
Jordan Watkins served as Ole Miss' third option last season, buried on the pecking order to some extent by second-round pick Jonathan Mingo and undrafted free agent signing Malik Heath. Still, he has the tools to intrigue NFL scouts, and 449 receiving yards is far from a terrible return in his first season in the SEC. Tre Harris' inclusion on this list is necessitated by his production at Louisiana Tech last season, where he caught 65 passes for 935 yards with 10 touchdowns. He was wearing a black no-content jersey for the majority of spring following his transfer to Ole Miss, so we'll have to wait for the summer to get a first real look at his tools.
David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Jaxson Dart among Ole Miss football's top 2024 NFL Draft prospects
