Start with what isn't in dispute: John David Baker confirmed Kewan Lacy had shoulder surgery in the offseason, both beat reporters trace it to the Tulane playoff game, and Michael Katz adds a hamstring pull in the Fiesta Bowl. Lacy is practicing. What isn't settled: Tyler Komis said on Locked On Ole Miss this week that Lacy is 100 percent and good to go. Daylan Flowers says he's hearing not quite — that the staff is going step by step toward Louisville. Both men are in the building. We're not picking the answer we like better.
CHAPTERS (derived from the measured word counts above plus the 20-second ad):
0:00 — Stop panicking about Kewan Lacy — the plan is the point
2:46 — Terrez Davis is the best story on this roster
4:30 — Closing — follow the Hits, and Locked On Ole Miss
DESCRIPTION:
Start with what isn't in dispute: John David Baker confirmed Kewan Lacy had shoulder surgery in the offseason, both beat reporters trace it to the Tulane playoff game, and Michael Katz adds a hamstring pull in the Fiesta Bowl. Lacy is practicing.
What isn't settled: Tyler Komis said on Locked On Ole Miss this week that Lacy is 100 percent and good to go. Daylan Flowers says he's hearing not quite — that the staff is going step by step toward Louisville. Both men are in the building. We're not picking the answer we like better.
The take is the opposite of the panic. Two credentialed reporters reading a recovery curve slightly differently in the second week of August is the most normal thing in this sport — and what's underneath it is a program protecting the best running back in America instead of using him up.
Baker said out loud he will not hand Lacy 306 carries again — same touches, different ways — and then added Makhi Frazier and Joshua Dye so he'd have the bodies to mean it. A staff that slow-plays a star in mid-August is a staff that expects to need him in January.
The caveat that would make this take wrong: if Lacy is still being managed when Ole Miss lands in Nashville, that stops being a reporting difference and becomes a problem. That is not what's in front of us right now.
Then later: Terrez Davis, the best story on the roster. Basketball until his junior year of high school, tight end that year, offensive line as a senior — then two starts as a true freshman at Maryland, at Oregon and at Penn State. This is year three at the position and year four playing football. Pete Golding says he's playing it about as well as anyone he can remember. Davis had portal interest in January and stayed, citing line coach John Garrison and loyalty. The honest counterweight: Golding is his head coach, so that's advocacy; Davis got hurt in camp last year and has never started a full SEC season.
Who's the best story on this Ole Miss roster? Comment below. Locked On Ole Miss Hits — quick takes on the Rebels every weekday. Subscribe and hit the bell. Hotty Toddy. #OleMiss #HottyToddy #KewanLacy #SEC #CollegeFootball #RebelsFootball