Retiring soon? How long should you wait to take social security? What accounts should you pull from first? Already retired? Should you consider ROTH Conversions? These are some of the questions that can only be answered with a personalized retirement income plan. Andrew Sego with Sego Wealth Management specializes in helping folks just like you come up with their retirement gameplan. Whether you meet at his office in Collierville or prefer Zoom from anywhere, schedule a free discovery meeting and see what he can do for you. www.rebelsretire.com. Stress out about the Rebels, not your money.
ATLANTA — Hello from Atlanta, where I’m up early in case I’m driving late.
My son’s club soccer team, Tupelo Futblol Club, needs a win midday today to earn a spot in the championship of whatever the name of the tournament they’re playing in. If that happens, they’re playing until 4 or so, so I’ll be driving late.
So this will be a shorter, more scattershot version of 10 Thoughts.
1. And you know what? It’s just as well. We’ve hit the point of the preseason where we are running out of things to write and talk about.
We’ll hear from Lane Kiffin again on Monday and get players Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before access is cut off again for the remainder of the week. And again, that’s more than fine. Practice observation is more about calling roll and seeing who’s healthy these days than it is anything else. It’s time to play games, and this time next week, we’ll be in game-week mode.
The season — at least for Ole Miss — begins in 13 days. It starts for Missouri and Arkansas in 11, for Oklahoma in 12. Georgia Tech and Florida State meet Saturday in Dublin, Ireland. Once the games come, the coverage becomes easy. So, basically, for the better part of this upcoming week, it’s just a waiting game.
2. I’ve covered all but two of Ole Miss’ practice viewing opportunities so far. I’ve pretty much dedicated that space to telling you who is participating, who is being held out of contact, etc.
So I’ll dive into the opinion side here a bit and throw a few observations your way:
— For me, everything this preseason is viewed under the prism of “Is this a championship-caliber team?” Maybe that’s not fair. Maybe that’s simply too harsh. Maybe that’s taking the fun out of the season.
However, I’m covering a team that won 11 games last season, losing only at Alabama and at Georgia, and only lost one truly significant piece (Quinshon Judkins) off that team while putting together arguably the nation’s best transfer portal class. The Rebels will open the season ranked No. 6 nationally, just one spot behind perennial national title contender Alabama. The schedule is difficult but favorable. There’s a ton of program continuity. The expectation should be to contend for a title.
— So my focus has primarily been on the lines of scrimmage. Ole Miss is going to be very good and maybe even elite on the defensive line, especially if Princely Umanmielen rebounds from his offseason labrum surgery and is the pass-rushing force he was at Florida. Walter Nolen has some questions he has to answer for NFL scouts, but his talent is unquestioned. It’s the offensive line that I’ve been most interested in. If Ole Miss is going to win a national title, the Rebels simply must be much better on the offensive line than they were a year ago. They added Southern Miss transfer Gerquan Scott, North Carolina transfer Diego Pounds and Washington transfers Nate Kalepo and Julius Buelow from the portal, and right now, most look like starters and all appear to be contributors. We don’t see meaningful portions of practice, so I can’t sit here and tell you the Rebels are better up front. They do look better, however, and the pieces they added have real experience. It appears to be a deeper, more versatile line, and over the course of a long season, that should come in handy.
— I’m repeatedly struck by Ole Miss’ size and length. I know, I know, insert joke here, but once we grow up a bit, you’ll know I’m saying the Rebels look much more like those Alabama, Georgia and LSU title contenders you’ve seen over the years. Especially on defense, those longer arms get in the way of passing lanes and the size closes down running lanes. In a league where the margin between good and great can be small, I believe Ole Miss has dramatically closed that gap.
3. I also like this team’s chemistry.
Now, that comes with an obvious caveat. I’m not talking about social media stuff that is designed to fire up the fan base. I’m not talking about Kevin Smith making a jumper in the team room during a Friday night meeting and the players going crazy. I suspect, if I were following along and looking for it, I could find stuff like that from the other 15 Southeastern Conference programs as well. I know I don’t exactly endear myself to the Ole Miss fan base when I say that, but nonetheless, it’s true. Every program has a social media presence that would have you believe that everything is unicorns, rainbows and marshmallows here in August. Everyone is undefeated. Everyone is optimistic. Everyone is ready to shock the world. Etc.
What I mean is there’s a tangible confidence that exudes from this team on the practice field. It’s an older team. It’s a team full of players who have been successful and who knows what it takes to be successful. Again, it’s just a few minutes a day a few times a week that we’re granted access, but there’s a workmanlike quality that is fairly evident.
What happens if and when adversity strikes? What happens if and when this team is trailing in the second half of a road game? I don’t know. There’s really no way, based on what we see, to know. However, my expectation is this team will respond well.
4. Here are six players I think are absolutely critical for Ole Miss’ success — if the Rebels are indeed going to be a title contender:
— Jayden Williams — It looks like the offensive tackle is going to play a key role — maybe even a starting role — for the Rebels this fall. He’s big and seems to be playing with a chip on his shoulder after losing his spot in the rotation for much of last season. If he can anchor the left tackle spot, especially given how big and experienced the right side of the Rebels’ line should be, Ole Miss could be borderline dominant up front.
— Ulysses Bentley IV — Duh, right? Sure, but Bentley has to stay healthy, at least in my opinion, for this team to truly be a title contender. Judkins is a loss. There’s no way around that. I’ve seen and read spin, but look at his stats and usage rate over the past two seasons. Judkins was a big part of Ole Miss’ offense over most of the program’s last 26 games. Bentley is a home-run threat and he has been a vocal leader in the portion of practice available to media. If I were a fan, however, I’d worry about the depth at the position and would shudder at the thought of missing Bentley for any extended period of time.
— Ayden Williams/Cayden Lee — Both young wide receivers have a ton of potential and now have some experience. It’s time for one — or both, if Ole Miss has its druthers — to step up and become a high-level SEC producer.
— Walter Nolen — The Texas A&M transfer has the talent to be a top-10 pick in next spring’s NFL Draft. Is Ole Miss is truly going to be a championship contender, Nolen has to play that way.
— TJ Dottery — I harbor some hesitancy when it comes to Ole Miss’ linebacker corps. I have some questions. That said, Dottery appears to have the potential to be an All-SEC-caliber player. Great defenses have elite players on all three levels. If Dottery can be what many around the program think he can be, he can fill that role.
— Trey Amos — So many of those great Alabama defenses had a lock-down cornerback who took pressure off the rest of the defensive secondary. Amos, ironically, was emerging as that guy late last season in Tuscaloosa before transferring to Ole Miss after Nick Saban’s retirement. If he can be that guy for Ole Miss, the Rebels’ defense can do big things.
5. I’ve learned some people don’t like this item in 10 Thoughts, but I can’t do real league rankings until teams play games.
So, in lieu of that, here’s a quick look around the league via my colleagues at Rivals:
— At Alabama, for a second straight weekend, Ryan Williams started the scrimmage by hauling in a long reception. However, the five-star talent wasn’t the top freshman in Alabama’s receiving corps on Saturday. That honor went to Rico Scott, who tallied a handful of catches, including touchdown grabs from Jalen Milroe and Dylan Lonergan.
Scott joined Alabama over the summer and has been working behind Washington transfer Germie Bernard and Emmanuel Henderson during drills in viewing periods earlier this month. Alabama heavily rotated its receivers Saturday, which allowed Scott to take some reps against the first-team defense.
Henderson also made a nice catch, diving to reel in a pass from Ty Simpson. It was a quiet day for Bernard, while Kendrick Law spent a lot of time working with the second unit.
Benard and Law are both favorites to land starting roles along with Williams and Kobe Prentice. However, don’t count out role players such as Scott and Henderson from providing an impact on offense.
— At Arkansas, running back Rashod Dubinion spoke to the media on Saturday about his unit, the offense and the team's mentality toward hard work.
A 5-foot-10, 201-pound Georgia native, Dubinion played in 10 games last season and racked up 260 yards and one touchdown on 82 carries. He also caught 14 passes for 85 yards and a score.
"I feel like everybody comes ready to work every day, like both sides of the ball," Dubinion said on Saturday. "Like if you don’t come ready to work it’s going to show. It’s going to show."
According to stats given to the media following Arkansas' second scrimmage of fall camp last week, Dubinion had two short-yardage touchdowns and a 30-yard gain late in situational drills. It's safe to say he's taking well to offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino's scheme.
"Coach (Bobby) Petrino’s offense is exciting to see," Dubinion said. "It's a show. We're going to bring a show.”
— At Auburn, Hugh Freeze admitted that the Tigers' offensive line is a concern.
"I do think we have a ways to go there," the head coach said. "That's probably been my biggest worry about the offense right now, believe it or not. I think our receivers are going to come on and be fine. O-line-wise, just getting them to gel and get on the same page."
There are pieces there for this group to be successful, though. Connor Lew, the sophomore center, has been excellent at making the right calls, but that doesn't always translate to the other positions.
"We're not all on the same page," Freeze said.
Freeze is optimistic about the group, calling it a tight bunch. Jeremiah Wright is trying to step up and be a starter for the first time at right guard. Right tackle Izavion Miller's offensive grade last season was 53.0 percent, according to PFF. Dillon Wade is transitioning from left tackle to left guard to make room for Mississippi State transfer Percy Lewis but could be moved to another position if needed.
"We're debating with D-Wade where's best for him to play," Freeze said. "We're still in the process of figuring that out."
There is also depth that will help this group, with some freshmen and transfers playing their way into a supportive role, including Bradyn Joiner and Deandre Carter.
"Tyler Johnson is now healthy, and he's got a chance to be really, really talented," Freeze said. "I'll tell you: (Ronan) Chambers has been a very good late pickup to help us also."
Freeze also knows he can't tell how successful the unit has been since there have been few live tackling sessions.
"I will say, it's somewhat hard to tell when you're always thudding, really what the play produced," he said.
— At Florida, per Jason Higdon, various injury bugs hit Florida, and the guys up front, Fletcher Westphal, Bryce Lovett, Caden Jones, Kamryn Waites, Austin Barber, and others, have been limited in some capacity through the camp to this point. Every position group must have chemistry to be on the field together, none more critical than those five offensive linemen. Multiple players returned to practice (Saturday) and participated. Still, the number of snaps they played was limited to a certain number for precautionary reasons - which is smart with two more weeks of practice headed their way.
Last year, as Higdon wrote, there were few options up front—Florida had the five guys going to play, almost to a fault, regardless of how poorly they played. At times, with so many guys on the sidelines, Florida was stuck with the guys available to play on the offensive line to date. Moving forward, with everyone back or close to being back to full speed, it will not be like that.
— At Kentucky, per Justin Rowland, Terhyon Nichols has a chance to start in the secondary. He's having a fantastic fall camp and the true freshman will be on the field a lot. He may be one of their top three cornerbacks right now. DJ Waller looks the part and "is a pro" in the making. Right now Waller is competing against JQ Hardaway for that cornerback spot.
— At LSU, has been the shining star of LSU's defense since he started the second half of the Ole Miss game in 2022 where he completely took over the game. Since that day, Brian Kelly knew he had a star on his hands, and despite not playing much in the first few weeks, Perkins went on to post six sacks in the final seven games.
Heading into 2023, Matt House and Brian Kelly decided they wanted to move Perkins inside in order to maximize his skill set and prepare him for the NFL. However, that move didn't last long after he was virtually erased from the Florida State game in Orlando.
Now, heading into 2024, the plan is to move Perkins back inside. Blake Baker is the Tigers new LBs coach and defensive coordinator, and he has a plan to maximize Perkins' abilities. We spoke with Perkins this week, and he told us that Baker has given him and the rest of the defense a new found confidence.
"Just having him in my room [gives him confidence]. Not just for me, for all of the linebackers and the defense as a whole. He gives us confidence to go out there and do what we do best, and that's attack.”
— At Oklahoma, per Brandon Drumm, through the first 10-14 practices the Sooners have worked on a lot of things, but the biggest thing, outside of the obvious schematic execution, is finding the players that will be leaders during the season. Sure, Oklahoma and head coach Brent Venables have several that stepped up during winter and summer workouts, but more are needed. In a perfect world, the Sooners are going to find that everyone can be a leader on the team, but we know fall camp hasn’t been perfect. Far from it. Particularly on the offensive side of the ball.
Sources continue to say that there are a few who have stepped up on both sides of the ball that might surprise you as far as vocal leadership. The names stated to OUinsider so far are guys like safety Peyton Bowen, running back Jovantae Barnes, and cornerback Kani Walker.
— At Texas, per Geoff Ketchum, there's some nervousness about the depth at running back, but true freshman Jerrick Gibson has eased those concerns slightly. The general consensus is that he's not as good as the injured CJ Baxter, but that he will be solid enough to give the Longhorns some of the same qualities as a player.
— At Vanderbilt, safety De'Rickey Wright almost left for Texas A&M. As Wright worked towards graduation on West End he looked ahead to his final season under the bright lights at Texas A&M, where he verbally committed to out of the transfer portal, but something wasn't right. Something was missing in College Station.
Wright kept feeling the pull of teammates like CJ Taylor's words, they wanted him back. They wanted to finish what they started.
The Gadsen, Alabama, native wasn't so sure, though. What he'd went through in 2023 had worn him down.
Vanderbilt's week zero game against Hawaii and the beginning of its week one contest was highlighted by Wright being around the ball, making plays on it and breaking out. That didn't last long, though.
It was never the same after that.
"Last year man, it was a tough one," Wright said. "Messed up my ankle the second game of the year and having to deal with that and getting shot up almost every game and being in the training room almost every day, it was really tough on me emotionally as well as physically."
As Wright reflected on that season, he realized that he went through it with guys that he couldn't bear leaving yet.
After some prodding, his mind was made up.
"They kinda talked me into it, I realized those are my brothers," Wright said of his teammates' role in his decision to return to Vanderbilt after entering the transfer portal. "We're brothers for four years, but it's also like we're brothers forever too. We did a lot of hard stuff together, a lot of grinding...I just wanted to finish it out with them.
"I came here for a reason, to be on a mission."
6. Here’s my sure-to-go-stupidly wrong prediction for Conference USA:
1. Western Kentucky
2. Liberty
3. Jacksonville State
4. New Mexico State
5. Middle Tennessee
6. Sam Houston
7. FIU
8. Louisiana Tech
9. UTEP
10. Kennesaw State
CUSA Champion: Western Kentucky
7. By this time next week, college football games will have been played. So here’s my final CFP prediction.
1. Ohio State
2. Georgia
3. Utah
4. Florida State
5. Ole Miss
6. Oregon
7. Alabama
8. Penn State
9. Missouri
10. Kansas State
11. Miami
12. Boise State
8. Here’s my sure-to-go-laughingly wrong predictions for the NFC South:
1. Atlanta Falcons — I watched some of the Falcons’ preseason game Saturday versus Baltimore. Atlanta looked decent enough to win what should be the most mid of NFL divisions.
2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers — Baker Mayfield (yes, I know how silly this sentence reads) is likely going to be steady enough to keep the Bucs in the wildcard race all season.
3. New Orleans Saints — It was a heck of a run in New Orleans, but it seems like the window of any contention at all has been slammed shut.
4. Carolina Panthers — I hope I’m wrong, as he seems like a great guy, but I’m not sold on Bryce Young at all.
9. It’s time to eat. Here’s our resident Parisian chef, Burton Webb, with Taste of the Place, Lesson 249 — Tomato Tart.
This heirloom tomato tart is a simple yet elegant dish that showcases the beautiful flavors of heirloom tomatoes, red onions, capers, and fresh mozzarella, all atop a flaky puff pastry crust and finished with a light vinaigrette.
Tidbit #1: Using puff pastry as the base makes this tart both easy to prepare and wonderfully flaky. Also, you can get the puff pastry at the grocery store. Easy-peasy
Tidbit #2: To prevent a soggy crust, pre-bake the puff pastry and let it cool before adding the toppings.
Tidbit #3: A light vinaigrette drizzled over the top adds a fresh, tangy flavor that complements the mozzarella's richness and the tomatoes' sweetness. So wait until you serve it because it will add another layer of flavor.
Things you will need:
4 people
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Resting time: 5 minutes
Utensils needed:
Work surface and chef’s knife
Baking sheet
Parchment paper
Mixing bowl
Whisk
Stovetop and oven
Ingredients needed:
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
4 large heirloom tomatoes, sliced
1 large red onion, thinly sliced
1 cup fresh mozzarella, sliced
2 tbsp capers, drained
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh basil leaves, for garnish
For the vinaigrette:
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
Mise en Place:
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface to fit the baking sheet. Transfer the puff pastry to the prepared baking sheet. Prick the pastry with a fork to prevent it from puffing up too much.
Step 1.2: Bake the puff pastry for 10-12 minutes, until lightly golden. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.
Step 2: In a mixing bowl, whisk together the extra-virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, minced garlic, salt, and pepper to make the vinaigrette.
Step 3: Arrange the sliced heirloom tomatoes, red onions, and fresh mozzarella on the cooled puff pastry. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Return the tart to the oven and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes, until the tomatoes are tender and the cheese is melted and bubbly.
Final:
Step 4: Remove the tart from the oven and let cool for a few minutes. Sprinkle the capers over the top. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the tart and garnish with fresh basil leaves before serving.
From the Mississippian in Paris, Bon Appétit!
10. We’ll have coverage of Ole Miss football, recruiting and whatever else may come up this week on RebelGrove.com. Until then, here are some links of interest to me — and hopefully, to you — for your reading pleasure:
How 'reading tea leaves' and some luck put Bears offense on the brink of something special
Can Caleb Williams be the next Joe Burrow? That's the Chicago hope
Brock Purdy's origin story, the Ames chapter: How Iowa State crafted the 49ers QB
Why Mike Tomlin leads NFL's most physical training camp: 'You can't box without sparring'
Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard, the small-town QB with championship ambitions
The new College Football Playoff is here. Are more changes coming in the near future? - Yahoo Sports
Is becoming USMNT head coach the right move for Mauricio Pochettino?
Manchester City, the Premier League and the season everything might change
Inside Man Utd's seismic summer: Recruitment upheaval, job fears and aggressive youth policy
A new manager, an underappreciated star and 'something special' are fueling the Guardians
From pencil bats to Scooby spikes, Players' Weekend showcasing a different side of MLB
Kyle Hendricks' mind isn't on potential end of his Cubs career as free agency looms
Harris can’t rely on identity politics this election, as wokery becomes a luxury belief
