Whiskey Wednesday’s Recruiting Hangover: Real Games, Real Visits

Sep 29, 2022 - 8:10 PM

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As the Ole Miss football preseason has officially ended, the Rebels now face eight straight SEC games (with a BYE week mixed in there somewhere). Recruiting season also kicks into gear, as Ole Miss starts playing games that prospects actually want to attend. Why, just one such game is this weekend! We’ll get into this weekend’s visitors in just a moment, but first:

Braxton Myers is set to announce his commitment today. The Coppell, TX defensive back, ranked as the consensus #215 player in the country by On3, backed off of his commitment to Southern Cal back on September 7. But even prior to that, there was a lot of smoke that Myers was considering flipping his commitment to Ole Miss. We haven’t heard of any other schools making a push for Myers’ commitment in recent weeks, so it seems to be a really strong bet that the talented cornerback will pick the Rebs. We’ll update you when that officially happens, but… it’s happening.

Now, let’s talk Kentucky weekend visitors!

• First up, Conyers, Georgia offensive guard prospect DJ Chester. Ranked as the consensus #162 player in the country for 2023, Chester appears to be a heavy LSU lean, according to On3’s recruiting predictor thingy. I haven’t heard much about this visit, which may or may not suggest that there isn’t much heat between Chester and Ole Miss right now. Either way, it’s generally good to have top players on campus. This is an official visit, so Kiffin and co. can roll out the red carpet and see what happens.
• Next, perhaps the most interesting visit going on this weekend: Picayune running back Dante Dowdell, an Oregon commit and the consensus #207 player in the land. The Ole Miss staff has continued to recruit Dowdell after his commitment to Oregon, and relatively few other running back options have seemed to emerge, despite a likely need to reload at the position for next year. To me, this might be a hint that things are looking better with Dowdell than they appear on the surface. Getting him back on campus (this time for an unofficial visit) is a pretty good sign.
• Arlington, TX safety Jamel Johnson joins DJ Chester on the official visitor list this weekend. Johnson is the consensus #244 player in the country, and committed to Texas last November. Again, we haven’t been hearing about Johnson much, so it’s hard to tell how firm his Texas commitment is, or even the Rebels’ level of interest, as there are definitely a few other defensive backs still on the board.
• Chattanooga, TN offensive guard prospect Brycen Sanders, an Ole Miss commit, returns to campus yet again. Cool to have the #256 player in the country committed, and to not really worry about his level of buy-in. Dude’s on campus every week. Welcome back, Brycen!
• Another Ole Miss commit on campus will be Neeo Avery. Avery looks like an absolute superstar defender who’s played every position on the field, but projects as an edge rusher. Ranked the #259 player in the country, I’m surprised Avery isn’t ranked higher. This will be his official visit before signing in December.
• Cayden Lee of Kennesaw, Georgia also visits this week. The 5’11 wide receiver is ranked the #455 player in the country, and appears to be a heavy Ole Miss lean. It was widely anticipated that Lee would commit to Ole Miss a few weeks ago, but that never materialized. Could he make it official this weekend on his unofficial visit?
• The final visitor on the list is Brian Hollins, a defensive back prospect from Mansfield, TX. Hollins isn’t ranked and appears to have offers from mostly smaller football programs, so he may not be a top priority, but hey man, enjoy Oxford!