ESPN Analyst Believes Ole Miss Has 'Absolute Star' On Their Roster

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Levi Dombro | Last updated Jul 19, 2025 7:25 PM ET

The Ole Miss football program lost several key starters from last year's 10-win team. Lane Kiffin and his staff had eight players selected in the NFL Draft, and several more landed with professional teams as undrafted free agents.

No loss was bigger, however, than that of quarterback Jaxson Dart. A three-year starter for the Rebels and a First-Team All-SEC selection, the young signal-caller was taken in the first round of this year's draft by the New York Giants.

His replacement will be sophomore Austin Simmons, who is entering his first season as a dedicated football player at Ole Miss. Simmons was also a pitcher for the Rebels' baseball team while serving as a backup for Dart over the last two seasons.

SEC Media Day took place last week in Atlanta, Georgia, and ESPN's Peter Burns came away from the event with several takeaways. One of them revolved around Simmons, whom Burns believes will have plenty of success for the Rebels this season.

"Austin Simmons is going to be an absolute star at Ole Miss," Burns wrote.

This should be music to the ears of the Ole Miss faithful, as most of the fan base has questions about how Simmons will perform compared to Dart.

Simmons played in nine games for the Rebels last season, but only threw 32 total passes in those appearances. He completed 19 of them for 282 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions while also tacking on five rushes for 14 yards.

He entered the game against Georgia last season after Dart briefly went down with an injury and led Ole Miss on a touchdown drive. All told, he completed five of his six passes for 64 yards against the Bulldogs in the win.

Ole Miss also has quarterbacks like Trinidad Chambliss, AJ Maddox and Maealiuaki Smith on the roster, but they are expected to battle for the backup spot behind Simmons.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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