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4-star QB Tristan Gebbia commits to Nebraska over Ole Miss

The 2017 signal caller says he's following Keyshawn Johnson's kid to Lincoln, Neb. As long as Shea Patterson pans out in Oxford, it's not a major blow for Hugh Freeze.

By Jeff Gray
Eric Francis/Getty Images

Four-star quarterback Tristan Gebbia won't be following in the footsteps of his dad. The son of former Ole Miss tight end Rich Gebbia announced Monday night via Twitter that he's committed to Nebraska.

It's an unsurprising development for a couple of reasons. First, Gebbia's four-star wide receiver teammate Keyshawn Johnson, Jr. (yes that Keyshawn Johnson, Jr.) committed to Nebraska two weeks ago. Tristan seemed to be waffling between Oxford and Lincoln at the time, so it seems likely that Key Jr.'s decision was the tipping point.

More significantly, perhaps, is the fact that Hugh Freeze already has his quarterback of the future on campus. Five-star Shea Patterson, the top rated QB of the 2016 class, is currently taking part in spring practice and is expected to succeed Chad Kelly as the starter in 2017.

So let's just say that Gebbia comes to Ole Miss next season and, as one would expect, loses the starting quarterback competition to Patterson in fall practice leading up to the 2017 season. Let's also say that Shea does not take a redshirt this season (and given the current lack of depth at the position, that looks likely) and is good enough to go pro after three seasons. So, best case for Gebbia, he rides the bench behind Shea for two seasons before the spot opens up in 2019.

Worst case, Shea redshirts in 2016 and sticks around for four seasons. In that scenario, Gebbia could be stuck behind him through the 2020 season.

Of course, it's also possible that Gebbia would have come in and beat out Patterson for a long-term starting job. Either way, it would have been nice to have the luxury of that competition and the added depth.

And hey, Signing Day '17 is still a long way off. Plenty of time for #TheNetwork to do some hustlin'...