Should Ole Miss Football Target the Big QB Names in the Transfer Portal?

Lane Kiffin has connections to the top two quarterbacks in the transfer portal. Should Ole Miss football be targeting some of the biggest names?

Lane Kiffin has connections to the top two quarterbacks in the transfer portal. But does that mean Ole Miss football should be making a run at them? 

Quarterbacks are both the most important position in football and the most sought after. Therefore, when a big name player hits the transfer market, the supply-demand curve on the position begins to oscillate. Right now, there seem to be more of those big names in the portal than ever before. 

The two headlining quarterbacks in the transfer portal are USC's JT Daniels and Alabama's Taulia Tagovailoa. Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin has ties to both. 

While serving as the Alabama offensive coordinator from 2014-16, Kiffin was the main player to recruit Tua Tagovailoa from Hawaii to Tuscaloosa. Leaving for Florida Atlantic in the same year as Tua's first at Alabama, he never coached the recent No. 5 overall pick in the NFL Draft, but he has a relationship with the Tagovailoa family from the recruitment process. 

Now, the younger Tagovailoa brother is set to leave Alabama. 

Despite his older brother's shadow, Taulia Tagovailoa was a four-star recruit in his own right the No. 5 ranked pro-style quarterback according to 247Sports in the class of 2019. Beat out by Mac Jones at Alabama as his bothers successor, Taulia only attempted 12 passes as a freshman at Alabama in 2019, going 9 for 12 for 100 yards and a touchdown. 

The tape on Taliua is limited. If he came to Oxford, he wouldn't even be the highest rated recruit on roster. Matt Corral was the nation's No. 63 overall recruit in 2018, the No. 4 rated pro-style quarterback. 

Even more intriguing than the younger Tagovailoa is JT Daniels from Southern California. Daniels, a former five-star was the No. 16 overall recruit in the class of 2018, was the No. 2 ranked pro-style quarterback in the class.

Daniels made 11 starts as a true freshman in 2018 at USC before losing the job in 2019 to Kedon Slovis after tearing his ACL and meniscus in the season opener. Slovis, a true freshman in his own right, threw for 30 touchdowns, seemingly sealing his name on the starting role moving forward. 

In his year as a starter in 2018, Daniels threw for 2,672 yards, 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. A return to USC is still very much on the table for Daniels, as the NCAA Board of Directors recommended recently against the passing of a one-time transfer waiver. The resolution may still pass the DI Board. 

So should Ole Miss try and take in one of these two? Maybe?

There are a few more factors that would go into this decision than would in a standard offseason. The lack for spring practice and the uncertainty of transfer rules for the 2020 season leave the concept of adding to the roster at this current time even more up in the air than usual. That's not even factoring in the fact that, despite growing optimism, the season may not even start on time. 

Tagovailoa doesn't seem like he would be a major upgrade over anyone on the roster. Corral and John Rhys Plumlee both have significant SEC experience and Grant Tisdale was a pretty highly rated recruit in his own regard. Despite the relationship, I wouldn't expect Ole Miss to pursue the younger Tagovailoa. 

Coming out of high school, Daniels would have been the best quarterback the Rebels could have gotten their hands on in quite some time. With Kiffin's relationship to USC, I would expect him to have at least reached out to Daniels to express interest. His freshman season wasn't incredibly impressive, but he was still a true freshman starting at USC that showed NFL-type arm talent despite the lackluster numbers. 

Will Daniels even leave USC? Many around the program believe he'll stay unless the one-time transfer rule passes later this month. If he can transfer and play immediately, Ole Miss should be pursuing his skills. 

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