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Published Nov 4, 2020
Fast Five: Ole Miss offensive players lead PFF season grades
Chase Parham  •  RebelGrove
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@ChaseParham

Ole Miss is 2-4 and in the middle of its bye week after routing Vanderbilt in Nashville. The Rebels return to host South Carolina and then close with Texas A&M, Mississippi State and LSU. With the break in action for a week, it's a good time to look at how Ole Miss individual players are fairing on the season.

Here are five players with quality grades from our friends at PFF College.

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ELIJAH MOORE - WIDE RECEIVER

This is a no-brainer, as Elijah Moore has 61 catches for 829 yards and six touchdowns through six games this season. The next closest Rebel in receptions is Kenny Yeboah (22). Moore tied the school record for receptions in a game with 14 catches against Vanderbilt and set the yardage school record with 238, despite a second half that was more about running clock and using other players.

Moore remains on pace to average double-digit catches per game, and the Clarion-Ledger's Nick Suss dug up that Texas Tech's Michael Crabtree in 2007 is the only Power Five receiver to ever do that. Moore is getting open against all types of coverage and benefiting from the Lane Kiffin philosophy of just feeding the best players in space.

Despite the 10-game season, Moore is on pace to have the fifth 1,000-yard season in school history. PFF College grades him at 89.4 for the season and 90.7 on passing plays. He has only two drops in 73 targets. There's an 83 percent completion percentage when targeting Moore.

JERRION EALY - RUNNING BACK

Jerrion Ealy is part of a quality two-handed punch in the backfield along with Snoop Conner, but he's made the most of his opportunities with an 87.3 PFF College grade for the season and an 88.0 grade on running plays. Ealy averages 40 snaps per game and has 524 yards on 100 carries this season. He's averaging three yards per touch after contact and averages six yards per carry on inside runs, showing some power along with his obvious speed.

MATT CORRAL - QUARTERBACK

Matt Corral is coming off maybe the best statistical game by an Ole Miss quarterback in school history on Saturday, completing 31-of-34 passes for 412 yards and six touchdowns, earning him National Player of the Week honors. He broke Eli Manning's school record with 19 straight completions and tied the SEC record for completion percentage with at least 30 attempts.

Corral had a horrific game against Arkansas with six interceptions but is still at 2-to-1 touchdowns to interceptions on the season with 18 and 9 and has thrown for 307 yards per game with a 71 percent completion percentage.

PFF College has Corral at 80.7 for the season, and he's beating teams at an incredible rate when blitzed. Facing a blitz, Corral is completing 80 percent (35-for-44) of his passes with 10 yards per attempt, eight touchdowns and one interception.

JEREMY JAMES - OFFENSIVE LINE

Jeremy James only played seven snaps during his redshirt season in 2019 but has acclimated himself quite well, averaging 75 plays per game this season at guard, including a high of 91 against Arkansas. He's Ole Miss' highest-rated lineman, per PFF College, at 73.7 overall and a really impressive 77.1 in run blocking.

After giving up a sack in three straight games to open the season, James hasn't allowed one since and has only allowed two quarterback pressures in the last 119 pass blocking snaps.

MILES BATTLE - CORNERBACK

Miles Battle, a converted receiver, has only played two games and 44 total snaps at cornerback, but the early returns are interesting and successful. Battle played 17 snaps against Auburn and 27 against Vanderbilt and has a defensive-high grade of 77.6 from PFF College, including a 78.1 grade in pass coverage.

The 6-foot-3, 195-pounder has been thrown at five times and has allowed one reception for five yards. It's an incredibly small sample size, but opposing quarterbacks have an NFL passer rating of 39.6 when throwing at Battle. For a midseason move, he's handling it well and reacting on a lot of pure athleticism, as Kiffin said they were telling him the assignment pre-snap at times against Auburn. He has two tackles and hasn't missed one.

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