For the second year in a row, the Ole Miss football team leads the nation with the most selections to the Reese’s Senior Bowl Watch List.
Announced Wednesday morning, 21 Rebels were named as possible players for the annual senior bowl held in Mobile, Ala. Those selected include: DB Trey Amos, DB Yam Banks, RB Ulysses Bentley IV, LB Khari Coleman, QB Jaxson Dart, RB Logan Diggs, DB Isaiah Hamilton, WR Tre Harris, DE Jared Ivey, OL Jeremy James, DB Key Lawrence, DT Walter Nolen, LB Chris Paul, Jr., DT JJ Pegues, OL Micah Pettus, TE Caden Prieskorn, OL Gerquan Scott, DE Princely Umanmielen, DB Trey Washington, WR Jordan Watkins, and WR Antwane Wells, Jr.
Ole Miss is one of just three schools to crack 20 selections to the watch list, sitting ahead of Georgia (20) and Texas A&M (20). Alabama (19), LSU (18), Ohio State (18), and Oregon (17) rounded out the top seven.
The Reese’s Senior Bowl is widely regarded as the preeminent college football all-star game and the first stage in the NFL Draft process. Jim Nagy, executive director of the Reese’s Senior Bowl, has taken special notice of both Dart and Bentley – who are expected to control a high-powered backfield in 2024 under head coach Lane Kiffin.
“There’s a reason why people are talking so highly of Ole Miss. This is the best roster Lane has had,” Nagy said during SEC Media Days in July. “This might surprise some fans, but there are teams in the league who have higher grades on Bentley than they do on (Quinshon) Judkins.
“I thought [Dart] made a nice jump last year, and I really hope he stays healthy. Just talking to some guys at Ole Miss – and they say this because they want to talk about his toughness. I guess he’s really played through some stuff in the last couple of years. My biggest thing at the quarterback spot is about winning games, and he’s won a lot of games”
Nagy said that, to him, Dart along with Georgia’s Carson Beck and Texas’ Quinn Ewers head into the 2024 season as the best quarterbacks in the SEC. Those three headline 47 quarterbacks featured on the watchlist. Joining them is new Mississippi State quarterback Blake Shapen, a transfer from Baylor who has been consistently touted by first-year head coach Jeff Lebby throughout the preseason.
Nagy said Shapen has a chance to play his way into being one of the conference’s best signal-callers before upping his draft stock at the Reese’s Senior Bowl, adding that more experienced quarterbacks like fifth-year players such as Shapen are desired by NFL teams with the level of patience at the positioning lessening for coaches and front-office management.
“Shapen’s a guy I will be interested to watch,” Nagy, a former NFL scout, said. “The NFL is a less developmental league than it used to be. I got into the league in 2000, and we used to be a lot more patient with players. There was more developmental time. The quarterbacks almost have to be ready to go immediately.”
Other Bulldogs included DT Eric Taylor, WR Trent Hudson, OL Ethan Miner, WR Kelly Akharaiyi, and S Corey Ellington. Southern Miss featured four players: LB Jalil Clemons, DB Dylan Lawrence, OL Dontae Lucas, and DL Demeco Roland. Division II Delta State had one selection in WR Jalen May.
The full Reese’s Senior Bowl watchlist heading into the 2024 season can be viewed here.
