The Three Most Important Transfers in Ole Miss’ Portal Class

Ole Miss currently has a transfer portal class with 24 incoming Rebels.

That’ll be a majority of this portal cycle addition. A couple of more may be added. OM Spirit’s Zach Berry is reporting that Ole Miss may host Miami wide receiver Joshisa Trader and Miami linebacker Raul Aguirre.

So, this portal class could grow. But we have an idea of who the most important transfers will be.

Whether based on the individual player’s talent or them filling a position of need, here are three transfer that Ole Miss needs to hit on.

We’ll begin with one who is the cause of some headlines last week.

Luke Ferrelli, LB

How Ferrelli went from Cal to Clemson to Ole Miss in a span of two weeks has already been documented. Most Ole Miss fans are also familiar with the tampering accusations levied by Clemson coach Dabo Swinney.

The accusations are somewhat serious (considering the widespread tampering in college football, it might be a nothing burger) and it wasn’t cheap to bring Ferrelli to Oxford.

Just based on all of that, Ferrelli is important because if Ferrelli isn’t successful then all of that was for nothing. That wouldn’t be a good look.

However, Ferrelli is also important because he fills a position of need. The Rebels’ leading tackler last season, TJ Dottery, left in the transfer portal to LSU. That left a huge hole in the Rebels’ defense. Ole Miss wouldn’t have worked as hard as it did to bring Ferrelli in if he wasn’t going to be tabbed to replace Dottery.

Carius Curne, OL

The reason for Curne’s inclusion on this list has somewhat already been covered in an earlier article today predicting the Rebels’ starting offensive line in 2026.

Having a good offensive line is important in football and the Rebels have to replace their two starting tackles. Curne will have a chance at filling one of those spots.

Curne was one of the highest-rated interior offensive linemen in this year’s transfer portal class. LSU didn’t want to lose him and Curne even took to social media, calling out LSU’s delay in filing his transfer paperwork.

Not only will Curne fill a big area of need for Ole Miss, he represents a win in the ongoing Ole Miss vs. Lane Kiffin saga. If he starts and plays well, even better.

Deuce Knight, QB/Jay Crawford, CB

The final Rebel on this list is entirely dependent on whether or not Trinidad Chambliss gets another year of eligibility.

If Chambliss is unsuccessful and has to head to the NFL, Knight becomes the most important transfer portal addition.

Quarterback is the most important position on a football team. It takes an all-time great defense for a team to win championships without good quarterback play. Without Chambliss, Knight will have to step up.

If Chambliss is successful, then we have options. We’re going with Crawford because one area the Ole Miss defense needed to get better at was tackling in the secondary. Crawford fills that requirement, but also can be a shutdown corner.

For a defensive-minded coach like Pete Golding, having a player like that is extremely important.