3 Ole Miss players who have impressed this fall
OXFORD – Ole Miss training camp is about halfway done, and at the midpoint there are a few offensive players who have made their presence noticed in practice.
Needing to replace eight starters from a season ago, the Ole Miss offense has been flush with new faces this month, particularly on the offensive line and at wide receiver.
At certain points this camp, all five of Ole Miss' second-string offensive linemen have been true freshmen, with four of the first-teamers combining for zero college starts.
Ole Miss has a little more experience at wide receiver, where Elijah Moore and Braylon Sanders each earned significant playing time last season.
And quarterback, running back and tight end seem to be sorted out, with Matt Corral, Scottie Phillips and Octavious Cooley returning after either starting or rotating as a backup last season.
With all this inexperience, this preseason camp has allowed plenty of opportunities for younger players to step up and be noticed. Here are three newcomers on offense who have impressed the Clarion Ledger this month:
Snoop Conner
A freshman running back from Hattiesburg, Conner has acclimated to offensive coordinator Rich Rodriguez's offense well. When media members are watching, he's spent all of camp working with the first-team offense, rotating with Phillips, Isaiah Woullard and D'vaughn Pennamon.
At 5-foot-10 and 215 pounds, Conner is one of Ole Miss' bigger running backs and he's used his large frame and the instincts he developed as a high school quarterback to carve out a place for himself in the Ole Miss running back rotation.
"In the spring, I didn't really know what I was doing," Conner said after a week of practices this month. "Now in fall camp, I feel better prepared. It got me way ahead, the spring. I'm just playing right now, just practicing."
Grant Tisdale
Rodriguez and Ole Miss coach Matt Luke have been tight-lipped this summer about which true freshman will earn the job of Ole Miss' backup quarterback. The competition, which includes Grant Tisdale, Kinkead Dent and John Rhys Plumlee, will likely roll over into the regular season. But through the first couple weeks of camp, it's seemed that Tisdale has the slight edge.
Since midway through the first full week of camp, Tisdale has graduated to taking Corral's relief reps with the first-team offense during the media viewing sessions of practice. This has meant a significant number of reps lining up behind the starting offensive linemen, option looks with the first group of running backs and snaps with the first- and second-team wide receivers and tight ends.
In Ole Miss' first scrimmage on Saturday, Tisdale and Corral were Ole Miss' two quarterbacks who participated in non-contact jerseys, while Plumlee and Dent participated in fullcontact capacities.
Jonathan Mingo
There's plenty of talent in Ole Miss' wide receiver room, with players like Moore, Sanders, redshirt freshman Miles Battle and converted running back Tylan Knight eating up a lot of the first-team reps. But one true freshman who has turned a few heads this camp is Jonathan Mingo, a product of Brandon.
At 6-foot-1 and 218 pounds, Mingo has drawn a few favorable comparisons to former Ole Miss standout A.J. Brown, who like Mingo wore No. 1. Though Mingo didn't enroll early and wasn't able to practice with his coaches and teammates until this month, veteran players have raved about his abilities.
"One freshman I see that just reminds me of A.J. is Mingo," senior cornerback Myles Hartsfield said. "At the top of the route, he's strong, physical. When he gets his hands on the ball it's hard to rip away from him."
Mingo factors into the second group of wide receivers competing for playing time, alongside options like redshirt freshman Demarcus Gregory, junior college transfer Dontario Drummond and fellow true freshman Dannis Jackson.
Contact Nick Suss at 601-408-2674 or nsuss@gannett.com. Follow @nicksuss on Twitter.