Morning after: The superlatives of Ole Miss' No. 7 signing class

RELATED: The Good, the bad and the unspoken | Signing Day video review

Ole Miss signed what many consider to be the best signing class in school history on Wednesday, nabbing the nation's best quarterback and offensive lineman along with three other Rivals100 prospects.

With the names known and the 2017 class officially on the clock, let's take a look to see what stood out, where Ole Miss excelled and where a prospect or two got away.

My co-worker, Neal McCready, used the term "recency bias" yesterday, and it's a very apt phrase for this Ole Miss singing class. National Signing Day had its ups and downs for the Rebels with big hits and bit misses. However, the top player in the class wasn't picking up a hat on Wednesday. He was already on campus preparing for the 2016 season.

Shea Patterson is the best quarterback in the country, and Ole Miss got a commitment from him a year and ago and that held firm until he enrolled in school last month. Patterson, the Army Bowl MVP, is a perfect fit for Hugh Freeze's offense because he can make every throw while also having the ability to improvise with his feet and keep his eyes downfield when flushed to his right of left.

The Rebels get one more year of Chad Kelly, and then it's the Patterson Show. He was the nation's top player after one rankings update and was dropped to No. 3 in the final rankings, despite excelling at every event along the way. He's the most impact player nationally, and Ole Miss already has him on campus.

Benito Jones wasn't one for interviews during the recruiting process, and he didn't have a major Twitter presence, so it seemed like he was overlooked by many in Ole Miss' fanbase. The quick-twitch defensive tackle graduated early from Wayne County and is already on campus with Patterson.

He never backed off his Ole Miss commitment once he flipped from Alabama in August 2014, and he steadily rose in the rankings, finishing in the top 50. Some evaluators questioned his ceiling due to his relative lack of height, but Jones dominated in the Under Armour All-American Game and presents problems for interior linemen because he's faster than all of them off the ball.

Hugh Freeze described Jones as Issac Gross with 50 extra pounds, and the extra spring practice should have Jones ready to participate in a very talented defensive tackle rotation this fall.

Also, in this category, Deontay Anderson fits the description. The top-100 safety has been an Ole Miss lean for months, and he finally pulled the trigger on Wednesday -- with a skydiving video, no less. Orangebloods.com has Anderson the No. 2 player in Texas, just before Little at No. 1, and he should be an excellent candidate to play safety immediately for Dave Wommack.

This was the shocker of National Signing Day, as Jeffery Simmons chose Mississippi State over Alabama and Ole Miss on Wednesday. The state's top ranked player had been on a steep ratings incline since this past summer and recently achieved five-star status.

Ole Miss, MSU and Alabama all believed they were frontrunners for Simmons up until he picked the Bulldogs during a ceremony at his high school. The Rebels have had tremendous success with the state's No. 1 player in past years and also have history at Noxubee, landing Pat Patterson and Vince Sanders in past classes.

Defensive end was a position of need for Ole Miss, and Simmons is a dynamic player, so this was the biggest miss of the day for the Rebels. Simmons' signature would have also moved the Rebels just seven points from No. 3 nationally in team recruiting rankings.

Speaking of defensive line, the other big miss was junior college No. 1 Jonathan Kongbo. It was a close race between Ole Miss and Tennessee, but he went to the Volunteers on Wednesday afternoon. Freeze had the parents in his corner, but it wasn't enough to sway Kongbo.

I almost picked Stockbridge, Georgia, defensive end Charles Wiley in this spot because I love his explosiveness off the edge at his size, but he's a four-star prospect, and a sleeper needs to be outside that top-300 or so range.

So, instead, I stayed in Georgia with Archer linebacker Donta Evans. He has tremendous size at 6-foot-2, 221 pounds, and there's incredible need at the position. DeMarquis Gates is a very good SEC linebacker, but the rest of the roster leaves numbers and talent to be desired.

Evans is already on campus after enrolling early, and there's a clear path to playing time if he can acclimate to the huge uptick in competition. He comes from a tremendous high school program and classification, so mentally he should be able to make the jump. He's a player to watch this spring, as he tries to fight for playing time. With his talent and Ole Miss' opening, I like his chances. Also, historically, 5.7 three stars are the most undervalued spot in the Rivals.com rankings.

It's not often the No. 4 player nationally isn't the head of the class, but Patterson upstaged Greg Little by a spot in the final rankings. However, no signee is more important to this coming season than Little.

The Allen, Texas, phenom will unfairly be compared to Laremy Tunsil from his first step in Oxford, and he's going to need to make a freshman impact similar to what Tunsil did in 2013. Little is penciled in as Ole Miss' left tackle in 2016, and there's not much time for easing into the spot, as the Rebels open with Florida State and play Alabama and Georgia in the first four weeks.

This is the best recruiting victory of the year, as Ole Miss had to have an immediate impact tackle, and it got the best one in the nation by going into Texas and fighting off Texas A&M and Alabama. It was a tremendous recruiting win, and it gives the Rebels even more appeal in the Lone Star State. Patterson may have more impact throughout his career, but Little is the top signee when it comes to immediate issues.

This one is a no brainer. The Rebels signed arguably the best, deepest and most explosive wide receivers group in the country, landing three prospects in the Rivals250 including two in the top 70 nationally.

A.J. Brown leads the class, turning down Alabama and hometown Mississippi State to join the Rebels. Brown, who excelled during the Under Armour event, is ready to play immediately and has tremendous explosion and burst. Freeze compared him to Laquon Treadwell, and it's easy to see how he can become that type of presence.

DeKaylin Metcalf, from Oxford, was an eyelash from getting his fifth star in January before some dropped passes caused him to slide in the final rankings. However, no one is worried about his hands, and Ole Miss is excited about the possibilities he brings in the red zone due to his strong hands and huge frame. He's one of the more physical receivers in the country, and he's only going to get better. He has a tremendously high ceiling.

Tre Nixon is a true burner, giving the Rebels an element they don't currently have on the team. He's a track star who needs to refine his routes, but that will come in time. Ole Miss targeted Nixon and kept him from Georgia. He's overshadowed some in the class due to Brown and Metcalf, but he has additional skills that can't be taught.

Ole Miss didn't have a huge need at wide receiver, but the rich got richer with this group. The group as a whole was impressive enough that the Rebels stop pursuing Mykel Jones and Quartney Davis.

Ole Miss' offensive signing class is deep, talented and elite, but there are some spots on the defensive side that could have used an extra prospect on the final list. Defensive line and cornerback are possible choices, but we're going with linebacker because of the tremendous immediate need.

The Rebels recruited five-star Mique Juarez until the last possible second, but the California prospect stayed home at UCLA. Just before that, Ole Miss junior college commitment David Luafatasaga flipped from the Rebels to Utah, leaving Evans as the only true linebacker in the 2016 class.

Tariqious Tisdale is also on the commitment list, but he's likely to grow into a defensive end during his collegiate career. Ole Miss recruited Michael Divinity throughout the process and kicked the tires on Memphis signee Tim Hart. Jaquan Yulee has academic issues, and two five-star linebackers couldn't be taken from the state of Alabama. There weren't many natural ties at linebacker for Ole Miss in this class, and it's the spot where the Rebels seem to be a name short.