Ole Miss Rebels steal elite defender from SEC rival as Pete Golding begins transfer portal winning streak
Pete Golding lands his first commitment via the transfer portal by adding top tier cornerback Jay Crawford from Auburn
The Ole Miss Rebels are off to a hot start in the transfer portal frenzy as Pete Golding and his staff have already landed an elite cornerback from an SEC rival.
At first it looked like they might sign Kayin Lee of Auburn, but it turns out it was his teammate that actually ended up choosing Ole Miss. Jay Crawford, a true sophomore, and the second highest rated cornerback in the transfer portal this cycle, announced on Saturday that he will be joining coach Golding and the Rebels. This is a huge win that should spark many more soon.
Jay Crawford immediately becomes the future of Ole Miss defensive backfield
While the defensive backs for Ole Miss have come together later in this special College Football Playoff season for the Rebels, they’re quite the imperfect bunch. Not only that, the best of them (and most of them) have either one or zero years of remaining eligibility, so Ole Miss needs a “face of the future” in their secondary. That player is now going to be Jay Crawford from Auburn.
The former lower tier four star recruit far exceeded any expectations he had coming into the SEC alongside teammate fellow cornerback Kayin Lee (who still as of this writing has not ruled out joining Ole Miss too) at Auburn over the last two seasons. He’s defended double-digit passes over the last two years, cut his average yards per reception allowed to around 10 yards, and he never gave up a play longer than 27 yards all season (consistently limiting explosive plays). Crawford could stand to improve with his tackle consistency, but as he continues adding mass as he heads into year three of college football that issue might fix itself.
Pete Golding, as a defensive coach, understands that locking down playmaking shutdown cornerbacks is a huge priority, so he made sure to make a big splash there quickly. Crawford’s teammate Kayin Lee is still visiting Ohio State (and the Buckeyes just shed a cornerback to the portal themselves), so it might just be a one-cornerback transfer weekend. However, if Crawford convinces his old Auburn teammate to come with him to Ole Miss then the Rebels could have one of the best, most experienced cornerback duos in the nation.
Crawford was the beginning. Linebacker Keaton Thomas from Baylor was the follow-up on Saturday night. The momentum and transfer portal winning streak is already under way.
We’ll be back with more Ole Miss Rebels coverage here at A to Z Sports soon! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news!
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