Jaxson Dart and Ole Miss Rebels teammates can't help but hype up Austin Simmons as the next great quarterback for Lane Kiffin
The Ole Miss Rebels have grown accustomed to seeing spectacular quarterback play ever since Lane Kiffin took over at head coach. Between Matt Corral and Jaxson Dart the Rebels have seen nearly 20,000 passing yards, almost 130 passing touchdowns, and just shy of 50 wins throughout the last five seasons. Now the Rebels are set […]
The Ole Miss Rebels have grown accustomed to seeing spectacular quarterback play ever since Lane Kiffin took over at head coach. Between Matt Corral and Jaxson Dart the Rebels have seen nearly 20,000 passing yards, almost 130 passing touchdowns, and just shy of 50 wins throughout the last five seasons. Now the Rebels are set to enter a new quarterback era in 2025.
Austin Simmons, a dual-sport, genius, wildly impressive athlete who entered college two full years early is set to take the helm now with expectations higher than they have ever been for the Ole Miss football program. The Rebels have won 10+ games three out of the last four years, and just barely missed out on making it into the College Football Playoff in 2024. Can Simmons actually follow up the incredible efforts of Jaxson Dart with an even more impressive showing?
Based on what his former Ole Miss teammates had to say recently, absolutely.
Austin Simmons, Ole Miss QB is Ready
When I was in Indianapolis for the NFL Combine last week I had the opportunity to speak with just about every Ole Miss Rebels player who was there and every last one of them couldn't help but hype up Austin Simmons.
The first player I spoke with, and the one perhaps most confident in Simmons, was star quarterback Jaxson Dart. When one of my fellow media members asked a follow-up on Simmons, Dart had quite the zinger of a quote on him.
"Yeah, [Austin Simmons] is an elite talent. I haven't really seen anybody like him who can really spin the ball with his arm talent. I'm really excited for him. He's going to take a huge step leadership-wise this year. And I'm excited for the team to grow because they're just going to pick up where we left off."
Jaxson Dart saying that he "hasn't really seen anybody like him" seems like lofty praise on the surface, but he isn't exaggerating. We've never really seen a player like Austin Simmons before in the history of college football. Yes, there have been players who played both baseball and football. Yes, there have been players who have reclassified to get to college a bit earlier.
There has never been a player who graduated high school two years early with a GPA above a 4.0, who was recruited for both baseball and football at an elite level to the point where he could likely play professionally in either sport, then sat willingly and patiently behind a veteran quarterback during the NIL and Transfer Portal era for two years when passers all around the nation were leaving teams to go find earlier playing time.
Austin Simmons is built different.
Former Ole Miss wide receiver Jordan Watkins had more glowing reviews to share as well:
"[Austin Simmons] is a guy that's going to be real, real special…He's unbelievably talented. He's a great talent. Dual sport athlete, and he can do it all…His maturity level. He came in as a 17-year-old. The way that he was able to adapt to the college system was unbelievably great. And to sit behind a great quarterback like Jaxson Dart and learn from him, Simmons was kind of like one big sponge."
Simmons clearly impressed Jordan Watkins these past two years as he sat patiently like a "big sponge" learning all he could from Jaxson Dart. And when he was given opportunities in a few huge moments this year for Ole Miss he already looked ready to take the reins for the Rebels.
I also spoke with Tre Harris and Princely Umanmielen briefly about Simmons. They too were sure he was going to make Ole Miss "pick up where they left off" just like Jaxson Dart said.
I know it's just the NFL Combine where teammates often talk each other up, but all of these guys are headed to the 2025 NFL Draft with no real reason to hype up Austin Simmons at this point if he wasn't the real deal. As spring practice is set to kick off this month expect to hear rave reviews on Simmons as he leads Lane Kiffin's offense into what should be a great 2025 college football season.
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!
If you want to see some of the great plays Austin Simmons already made in his 2024 season action just check out the highlights video below!
