Jaxson Dart did not make the All-SEC team, but two Ole Miss Rebels players did.
Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart may be the best passer in the SEC this fall, but he’ll have to earn the voters’ trust.
What is the best way to do so? Lead the conference in throwing yards and touchdowns. The good news for the third-year starter is that both weapons will be highly respected by the public.
SEC Media Days attendees selected receiver Tre Harris and tight end Caden Prieskorn to the preseason first-team offense. Running back Ulysses Bentley IV was named to the third-team.
Harris, who transferred from Louisiana Tech last season, should be Dart’s primary target once again. He made news with his four-touchdown performance against FCS Mercer and finished with 985 receiving yards this season.
Harris would have been first-team All-SEC and passed 1,000 yards last season in Oxford if he hadn’t sustained a knee injury in Week 2’s win over Tulane. He’s fully healed and eager to assist the Rebels reach the College Football Playoff.
“We understand there’s a lot of expectations on us this year,” Harris told reporters in Dallas on Monday. “But, in the end, we realize that we can only control what we can control. And we’re all simply frightened for the men inside the facility. We understand that we need to improve every day. That’s the key goal: to improve every day and achieve the highest attainable expectations.
Prieskorn, a Memphis transfer, missed some time early in the season due to injury, but made up for it later on. In the Egg Bowl against Mississippi State, he caught Dart’s 26-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.
A month later, in the Peach Bowl, Dart connected with his tight end twice for touchdowns. Prieskorn finished with a season-high ten receptions for 136 yards and two touchdowns.
Bentley, who is set to replace former All-SEC rusher Quinshon Judkins at running back, had a strong season in Oxford. In 13 games, he carried for 540 yards and four touchdowns, averaging 5.4 yards per attempt.
Following SEC Media Days on Friday, the conference announced that media members have picked Ole Miss to finish fourth in the 16-team SEC. The Rebels finished with 2,783 points, 108 behind third-place Alabama.
Georgia was selected to win the SEC regular season title with 3,330 points. Texas, which had just won its first Big 12 title since 2009, was projected to finish second with 3,041 points. The Bulldogs were big favorites to beat the Longhorns in the SEC Championship game in Atlanta.
The Rebels begin their season at home on August 31 against FCS Furman.
