AJ Brown and Greg Little made the cut as the only two Rebels featured on Athlon Sports’ recently released list of Preseason College Football All-Americans.
AJ Brown was an obvious choice at wide receiver for First Team All-American. Brown, the stand out playmaking junior from Starkville, is coming off an explosive and unstoppable 2017 campaign where he accounted for 1,252 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns. Even when Shea Patterson, suffered a season-ending knee injury early on, Brown found a way to still make plays when Jordan Ta’amu stepped in.
“(Brown) is poised to better those numbers in 2018 as a key component of Ole Miss’ high-octane
passing attack,” Athlon wrote in its decision. “Brown has linebacker size, the skill set of a top-tier running back after the catch, and all the tools NFL scouts look for in an elite receiver. He is likely to be the first wideout to come off the board in the 2019 NFL Draft.”
Brown not only has a knack for outstanding catches, but also for making defensive players miss. In this year’s Egg Bowl victory, the Starkville native racked up 6 catches for 167 yards and a touchdown in the 31-28 cap to the Rebels’ season.
Junior offensive tackle Greg Little came to Oxford as a 6’-6’’, 330 pound, five-star lineman recruit from Allen, Texas. The second half of this year’s Rebel Preseason All-American delegation came into his starting role with little trouble. As a freshman, Little was named All-Freshman SEC. Even though Little is one of the bigger lineman in the SEC, he still is extremely quick on his feet as he needs to be when facing some of the fastest defensive lineman in the nation. Whether through pancake blocks on run plays or picking up outside blitzers on passing plays, Little can truly do it all, and will be the anchor to the Rebel offensive line in 2019.
“Ole Miss is once again expected to have one of the nation’s top passing attacks in 2018,” Athlon wrote. “Little’s athleticism is off the charts for someone of his stature, which is exactly why he could be the first offensive lineman to have his name called at the 2019 NFL Draft.”
ESPN analyst Todd Mcshay also featured Brown and Little on his “Way too Early 2019 Draft Projections” as two Top-10 picks.
Ole Miss’ coaching staff is likely looking forward to heavy offensive production from these two stars in 2019. The Rebels’ first game of the 2019 season is the Advocare Kickoff game in Houston, Texas against the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
