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The first post we wrote about the 2016 Ole Miss class was on Feb. 5, 2015 -- the day after last year's National Signing Day. Since then, we've typed up more recruiting posts than I've bothered to count and sunk God knows how many hours into analyzing and prognosticating for NSD '16. With the crootin holy day just around the corner, it's time we step out on a limb and make our final predictions.
To do so, I rounded up five of Red Cup's crootin experts -- Zach Berry, Michael Borkey, Juco All-American, The Ghost of Jay Cutler and Whiskey Wednesday -- and had them assign a confidence rating to each of Ole Miss' prospects.
Here's the scale:
5 = He's a lock
4 = Feelin' good
3 = Leaning toward Ole Miss
2 = Leaning away from Ole Miss
1 = Don't hold your breath
0 = lol nope
Here are the results, ranked in order of most confident to least confident (any prospects that are tied are listed in order of their national ranking, per 247Sports).
They'll be Rebels
| Player | Stars | Current status | Confidence rating |
| OT Greg Little | 5 | Committed to Ole Miss | 5 |
| QB Shea Patterson | 5 | Enrolled | 5 |
| DT Benito Jones | 5 | Enrolled | 5 |
| WR D.K. Metcalf | 4 | Committed to Ole Miss | 5 |
| TE Octavious Cooley | 4 | Committed to Ole Miss | 5 |
| WR Tre Nixon | 4 | Committed to Ole Miss | 5 |
| OT Bryce Mathews | 4 | Committed to Ole Miss | 5 |
| DE Charles Wiley | 4 | Enrolled | 5 |
| ATH Justin Connor | 4 | Committed to Ole Miss | 5 |
| TE Gabe Angel | 4 | Enrolled | 5 |
| OT Royce Newman | 4 | Committed to Ole Miss | 5 |
| CB Jaylon Jones | 4 | Committed to Ole Miss | 5 |
| LB David Luafatasaga | 4 | Committed to Ole Miss | 5 |
| OG Chandler Tuitt | 3 | Committed to Ole Miss | 5 |
| C Eli Johnson | 3 | Enrolled | 5 |
| S Greg Eisworth | 3 | Enrolled | 5 |
| LB Donta Evans | 3 | Enrolled | 5 |
| S Myles Hartsfield | 3 | Enrolled | 5 |
| RB Jarrion Street | 3 | Committed to Ole Miss | 5 |
| OT Jack DeFoor | 3 | Committed to Ole Miss | 5 |
| DE Tariqious Tisdale | 3 | Committed to Ole Miss | 5 |
| S Deontay Anderson | 4 | Uncommitted | 4.8 |
| DE Jeffery Simmons | 5 | Uncommitted | 4.4 |
| CB Shyheim Carter | 4 | Uncommitted | 4.2 |
| TE Jacob Mathis | 4 | Uncommitted | 4.2 |
Yep, we're feeling damn good about Simmons, the top prospect in the state of Mississippi. He was in Oxford for Crootapalooza last weekend and had some good things to say about the Rebs. We also feel great about adding blue chippers Anderson and Carter -- both of whom were in Oxford last weekend -- to the secondary.
It's a toss up
| Player | Stars | Current status | Confidence rating |
| WR A.J. Brown | 4 | Uncommitted | 3.4 |
| DE Jonathan Kongbo | 5 | Uncommitted | 2.8 |
| RB D'Vaughn Pennamon | 4 | Committed to Ole Miss | 2.6 |
Oh hey there A.J. Brown. The wideout from Starkville sure seems to be distancing himself from State, which means he's down to Ole Miss and Bama. We, like Barton Simmons from Scout.com, see him as Rebel lean. We're less sure about Pennamon, who is a prime candidate to flip to either Texas A&M or Bama.
Ain't happening
| Player | Stars | Current Status | Confidence rating |
| LB Mique Juarez | 5 | Uncommitted | 1.8 |
| DE Terrell Hall | 5 | Uncommitted | 1.4 |
| WR Mykel Jones | 4 | Uncommitted | 1.4 |
| DT Kobe Jones | 4 | Uncommitted | 0.8 |
| CB Nigel Knott | 4 | Committed to Bama | 0.2 |
| DT Rashan Gary | 5 | Uncommitted | 0 |
The only guy on this list that the Rebs truly need is Juarez, who could be an immediate starter for a desolate linebacker corps. But UCLA is a lot closer to home for the Cali native.