OXFORD — Coming into the 2024 season, the receiving room for No. 9 Ole Miss (5-1, 1-1 SEC) was widely considered among the best in the country. Its leader, senior wide receiver Tre Harris, was a preseason first-team All-SEC pick and a preseason All-American. Harris currently leads the nation with 885 receiving yards — 173 more than the next closest player — and in receiving yards per game. He is the No. 2 rated receiver in the nation, according to Pro Football Focus.
Harris was injured in the first half last weekend against South Carolina, having already put up 81 yards on three receptions. He did not return to the game in the second half, with head coach Lane Kiffin telling reporters Harris wasn’t particularly close to being able to come back in. Harris’ status for Saturday’s game against No. 13 LSU (4-1, 1-0) remains in question.
Harris currently leads the Rebels with 52 receptions. The next closest receiver, sophomore Cayden Lee, has 18. The next closest player to Harris in receiving yards is senior Antwane “Juice” Wells Jr., who has 371 — a difference of 514 yards. With Harris’ status up in the air, the Rebels’ other receivers — and their respective usages — are worth a deeper look.
“We have to get the other guys ready. We have to perform better than we did in the second half without him, we only had three points,” Kiffin said Monday. “ … That makes us move people in different spots when he’s out, so we’re preparing to do that and preparing to play without him.”
Per PFF, Harris has received 64 targets this season, meaning he has a successful reception percentage of 81.3. He has lined up wide on 85.2% of his passing snaps. He has been particularly productive after the catch, with 445 yards coming after the reception (8.6 yards after catch per reception). He had 360 yards after the catch in all of 2023. Harris lined up wide against South Carolina on 13 of his 18 passing snaps; he was in the slot the other five.
The next closest Rebels receiver in targets is Wells, who has 30. With 17 receptions, his reception percentage is 56.7. Wells has lined up wide on 84% of the Rebels’ passing snaps. He is averaging 9.6 yards after the catch and has an average depth of target of 17.6 yards, meaning senior quarterback Jaxson Dart is generally trying to get him the ball down the field; comparatively, Harris’ average depth of target is 10.6 yards. During his 2022 season at South Carolina — he missed most of 2023 with an injury — Wells had an average depth of target of 8.9 yards and averaged eight yards after the catch. Against South Carolina, Wells lined up on 87.5% of his passing snaps out wide.
The only other receiver with more than 20 targets this season is Lee, who has converted 18 of his 21 targets into catches (85.7%). Lee has played 77% of his snaps in the slot this season; he was in the slot 91.7% of his passing snaps last weekend.
Senior Jordan Watkins missed the season opener due to injury and has yet to have his breakout game in 2024. He has 10 receptions on 15 targets — the same number of targets as senior running back Henry Parrish Jr. Watkins has played 50 of his 103 passing snaps in the slot this season (48.5%) and 49 out wide (47.6%); he played 84.2% of his snaps in the slot last season. Watkins has also been targeted downfield frequently this season, with an average depth of target of 18.4 yards. His average depth of target last season was 11 yards.
Senior tight end Caden Prieskorn has been targeted 14 times this season and has 11 receptions, a successful catch percentage of 78.6%. Prieskorn has lined up in the slot on 50% of his passing snaps this season and has been inline on 28.7% of snaps. He lined up in the slot 56.6% of the time last season. Prieskorn was in the slot on 10 snaps last weekend — 47.6% of his total. He was out wide for six passing snaps and inline for three.
Despite missing the first three games of the 2023 season, Prieskorn had 37 targets last year, an average of 3.7 per game. He is at 2.3 targets per game this season. Part of that decrease can likely be attributed to the addition of junior tight end Dae’Quan Wright, who has lined up in the slot on 52.1 of his passing snaps. Wright has five targets so far this year.
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