OXFORD – Ole Miss junior wide receiver Traylon Ray knew he would be walking into a crowded wide receiver room when he decided to transfer into the program.
But he firmly believes you can’t get better if you aren’t consistently challenged.
Ray, a 6-foot-1, 195-pounder from Tallahassee, Florida, caught 46 passes for 747 yards and seven touchdowns in two seasons at West Virginia. He logged a career-high 426 yards and four touchdowns a season ago but missed the final three games of the season due to a leg injury.
He was rated a four-star recruit out of North Florida Christian in the 2023 class by the 247Sports Composite and was rated as a four-star transfer. Ray was one of four four-star wide receivers the Rebels brought in this offseason to help offset the losses of Tre Harris, Jordan Watkins and Antwane “Juice” Wells Jr., among others.
In addition to Ray, the Rebels have added former Oklahoma State wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling, former Penn State wide receiver Harrison Wallace III and former Wake Forest wide receiver Deuce Alexander, who have a combined 3,804 receiving yards in their careers. The Rebels also return Cayden Lee, who had 874 yards last season, and added five-star freshman Caleb Cunningham.
Ray says it’s a receiving corps that has “different talent everywhere.” But he isn’t one to back down from a test.
“Really can’t get any better if you have no competition,” Ray said. “I’d rather go somewhere with a receiver room that’s stacked and I get to go in every day knowing I have to put my best foot forward.”
Of his 229 receiver snaps at West Virginia last season, Ray lined up outside just under 61% of the time and in the slot about 39% of his reps, according to Pro Football Focus. He averaged just under five yards-after-the-catch per reception, and his average target depth was 15 yards. He forced four missed tackles, tied for second most on the Mountaineers.
“I’m a very fluid receiver, I’d say. Just a smooth guy. I make everything kind of look a little bit easier than it actually is,” Ray said. “So, that’s kind of how I explain it.”
Ray told reporters Friday that redshirt sophomore quarterback Austin Simmons played a role in his decision to join the Rebels. Simmons has yet to start a game but produced when given the opportunity behind Jaxson Dart a season ago. When Dart was injured early against No. 3 Georgia, Simmons entered the game and completed 5 of 6 passes for 64 yards on an eventual touchdown drive.
“He’s one of the next best quarterbacks, in my opinion, coming up this year,” Ray said. “So, I have a lot of faith in him and a lot of faith in what he can do.”
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