The Rebels kicked off the season on Saturday night, beating the Georgia State Panthers 63-7. There were no depth charts released during fall camp, so this weekend provided the first insight into where players stand in the pecking order. The best way to dissect that is to take a look at snap counts.
Here is a breakdown of the offensive and defensive snaps played by each player in different position groups, not including special teams.
OFFENSE TOTAL - 84
QUARTERBACKS
Austin Simmons - 66
Trinidad Chambliss - 18
Simmons threw for 341 yards looked very comfortable in Kiffin's offense. Trinidad Chambliss flashed his running ability several times throughout the game. Ole Miss flashed his use in a couple of packages, including to pick up a two point conversion. There seems to be a role in the offense for the backup QB
RUNNING BACKS
Kewan Lacy - 56
Logan Diggs - 17
Damien Taylor - 10
Kewan Lacy clearly as emerged as the lead back for this team, and he showed all sort of talent and explosiveness. Lacy posses elite balance control. He rushed for 108 yards on Saturday, 96 of which game after contact. Taylor and Diggs also showed some nice things, it is to be seen if they can carve out larger roles in the offense. The running back room is in much better position that it was last year.
WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS
De'Zhaun Stribling - 56
Cayden Lee - 47
Harrison Wallace - 45
Deuce Alexander - 44
Dae'Quan Wright - 37
Trace Bruckler - 32
Winston Watkins - 20
Caleb Odom - 18
Izaiah Hartrup - 10
Dillon Alfred - 8
Caleb Cunningham - 6
Hayden Bradley - 6
Wyatt Smalley - 3
Josh Pfeifer - 4
Jack Harper - 1
The amount of players drawing snaps showcases how deep the pass catching room is. That is without Traylon Ray and Luke Hasz, both of which should return soon from injury and will have roles in the offense. The top three receivers seem to be as we thought, Stribling, Lee, and Wallace, but Alexander also has a large role. Winston Watkins seems to be poised for significant playing time as a freshman backing up Cayden Lee.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN
Brycen Sanders - 74
Patrick Kutas - 72
Jayden Williams - 72
PJ Wilkins - 69
Diego Pounds - 69
Percy Lewis - 15
John Wayne Oliver - 14
Devin Harper - 12
Ethan Fields - 12
Connor Howes - 10
Joe Koury - 1
Not much to note here, but the rotation along the line seemed to less than what was indicated it would be by the coaching staff this offseason.
DEFENSE TOTAL - 61
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN
Kam Franklin - 36
Zxavian Harris - 33
Will Echoles - 31
Suntarine Perkins - 28
Da'Shawn Womack - 27
Jam Brown - 26
Princewill Umanmielen - 24
DeeJay Holmes - 16
Kamron Beavers - 9
Andrew Maddox - 7
Jeffrey Rush - 7
The top guys are exactly what we expected here. The snap share falls in line with what the conventional wisdom was coming out of fall camp. It does seem like the staff is still waiting for Beavers, Maddox, and Rush to take another step in their development before seeing an increase in share of snaps. That would be a big boost for the depth along the line.
LINEBACKERS
TJ Dottery - 43
Jaden Yates - 39
Tahj Chambers - 20
Tyler Banks - 18
Raymond Collins - 1
TJ Dottery is the leader of this defense, and he will play as many snaps as he can physically handle. The top four linebackers are exactly what we expected to see. However, Jaden Yates starting and playing significantly more than Tahj Chambers was not what was expected. Chuky Mullins award winner, Tyler Banks, seems to have carved out a nice role in the defense backing up TJ Dottery and giving him some rest.
DEFENSIVE BACKS
Antonio Kite - 52
Nick Cull - 43
Kapena Gushiken - 40
TJ Banks - 39
Chris Graves - 36
Sage Ryan - 30
Ricky Fletcher - 25
Wydett Williams - 22
Anthony Robinson III - 9
Cedrick Beavers - 8
Andy Jaffe - 1
Tavoy Feagin - 1
Kite is clearly the team's number one corner. He shadowed the top receiver all night and will likely carry that duty all season. It also appears that Chris Graves was the number two corner over Ricky Fletcher on Saturday. The coverage overall was solid, albeit against much lesser talent. The top safeties with Gushiken, Banks and Cull. The largest surprise was how much Nick Cull played. Sage Ryan also played a lot and Wydett Williams has a solid depth role. Expect heavy rotation in the three safety positions throughout the season.