If BenJarvus Green-Ellis is to make it through the 2007 season, the Ole Miss athletic training staff may want to consider wrapping the Rebels leading rusher (and former Hoosier) in Nerf.

Green-Ellis carried the ball 234 times last season and is expected to receive the same amount of carries this year, as offensive coordinator Dan Werner will look to control the ball with the running game and grind out some wins. At quarterback it appears to be a three-horse race between seniors Brent Schaeffer and Seth Adams and redshirt freshman Michael Herrick. Unfortunately for the Rebs, their most talented quarterback, Texas transfer Jevan Snead, will be sitting out this season after transferring. Though Schaeffer is hands-down the most athletic of the three, he lacks the consistency that head coach Ed Orgeron would like to have in his signal-caller. My guess is that it will likely be Schaeffer for the first part of the season and if he starts to circle the drain its a toss-up between Adams and Herrick.  If Ole Miss is to be competitive this season, it will need to develop more offensive weapons than Green-Ellis. The Rebels finished last in the conference in total yards and scoring last season (261.5 ypg, 15.7 ppg) and will need to develop other offensive threats, particularly at wideout where sophomores Dexter McCluster and Marshay Green return after impressive ’07 campaigns. Whoever Orgeron starts at quarterback will have the benefit of starting behind a line that is returning four starters from last year’s unit, including All-SEC second-teamer Michael Oher at left tackle and sophomore right guard John Jerry who received freshman All-America honors last season.

Teams will be scoring on the Ole Miss defense at will. The defensive line is a trainwreck despite the improvement of sophomore end Marcus Tillman during the spring. The Rebs will never be able to match the production or the talent of linebacker Patrick Willis, who was drafted in the first round of May’s NFL draft and the team is practically starting over at corner and safety as junior Jamarca Sanford moves back to safety after a season at Will linebacker.

With so many holes to fill, the Rebs could use some early season non-conference wins.. but they won’t get any this season. They open the season at Memphis before hosting Big 12 favorite Missouri. Their first forseeable win isn’t until week 5 when Ole Miss hosts Louisiana Tech on Homecoming in Oxford.

Bottom Line Prediction:  2-7. This is a tough conference for programs that are rebuilding and the Rebels play an absolutely monstrous schedule including non-conference clashes with Memphis and Missouri. Three wins is probably the best-case scenario for this team if they can squeak out a victory in Starkville in the Egg Bowl.