The moment Shea Patterson walked into an Ole Miss classroom as an early enrollee, the Ole Miss coaches were presented a question of risk. The offseason defections of DeVante Kincade and Ryan Buchanan left Patterson (the No. 1 quarterback recruit in the country) and Jason Pellerin (a three-star redshirt freshman) as the only scholarship passers behind star Chad Kelly. Hugh Freeze could either burn Patterson’s redshirt to prepare him to be Kelly’s backup, or put him on the shelf and make the less talented Pellerin the No. 2.
Six weeks into the season, that decision seems to have been made.