See Where Ole Miss Football's Five Best Transfers Landed Amid Chaotic Offseason

Pete Golding and Co. retooled the roster this offseason, multiple departures landed at other prominent schools.

Oct 11, 2025; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels linebacker Princewill Umanmielen (1) defends during the fourth quarter against the Washington State Cougars at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Pete Golding and the Ole Miss Rebels have retooled the roster this offseason after assembling the No. 2 rated Transfer Portal haul in America paired with a strong 2026 Recruiting Class.

Once Golding was elevated to full-time head coach after spending time as the program's defensive coordinator, the new shot-caller in Oxford hasn't skipped a beat.

"The locker room is so fragile, as we all know," Walker Jones, the executive director of the Grove Collective, said to ESPN. "This is the ultimate team sport, and there's no bigger team sport than football [with] so many personalities, so many moving parts.

"You had to hire the guy that can keep the locker room and the coaching staff in sync. It was such a unique situation, first of its kind. There's no blueprint for it."

But there have been departures this offseason with over 15 players making the move to find new homes. Which players left? Where are they now?

The Five Best Players to Depart:

No. 1: EDGE Princewill Umanmielen - LSU Tigers

The 6-foot-5, 245-pound Texas native joined the Ole Miss program last offseason after starting his career with the Nebraska Cornhuskers across a two-year stint in Lincoln.

Once Umanmielen arrived in Oxford, he took his game to the next level where he is fresh off of a strong junior campaign - logging 45 total tackles while also tallying a strong 12 tackles for loss, eight sacks, two pass breakups and an interception on the season.

The Ole Miss Rebels defender checks in as the No. 5 overall player in the NCAA Transfer Portal and the No. 1 EDGE in the market where he's Baton Rouge bound.

Courtesy of Princewill Umanmielen's Instagram.

No. 2: LB TJ Dottery - LSU Tigers

The Alabama native totaled 98 tackles, including 48 solo, to lead the Rebels in both categories across a massive 2025 campaign amid a College Football Playoff run. He also added two forced fumbles, a pair of pass breakups and 1.5 sacks during the season.

Dottery had his breakout season in 2024 where he logged 76 tackles (42 solo) with a pair of sacks, a forced fumble and a PBU where he's accumulated 90 solo tackles (174 total) across his time in Oxford.

No. 3: QB Austin Simmons - Missouri Tigers

The Florida native took a redshirt year across the 2023 season prior to suiting up in nine games for the Rebels in 2024 as a freshman.

Fast forward to his redshirt-sophomore season in 2025 and the torch was officially passed from Jaxson Dart to Simmons where he began the season as the starter.

Across six games played, Simmons logged 744 yards on 45-for-75 passing with 4 touchdowns and 5 interceptions for the Rebels.

Once he suffered an ankle injury in Week 2, Chambliss earned the nod as the starter where he then took America by storm across his first season in Oxford - finishing in the Top-10 of the Heisman Trophy voting.

Courtesy of Ole Miss Rebels Football.

No. 4: WR Winston Watkins - LSU Tigers

Watkins signed to the Rebels as a Top-50 wideout in the 2025 Recruiting Cycle and a Top-300 overall prospect - selecting Ole Miss over the likes of the Ohio State Buckeyes, Miami Hurricanes, Florida State Seminoles, and South Carolina Gamecocks, among others.

In his lone season with the Rebels, Watkins recorded 26 catches for 373 yards and a touchdown. Additionally, he notched 21 rushing yards on five carries.

No. 5: WR Cayden Lee - Missouri Tigers

Lee has served as a valuable weapon for the Rebels' offense across the last two seasons where he's totaled over 1,500 yards on 101 receptions with a handful of touchdowns.

The 5-foot-11, 175-pounder out of the Peach State signed with the Ole Miss program as a Top-100 wide receiver in the 2023 Recruiting Cycle where he appeared in 10 games as a true freshman.

From there, he took on an integral role within the offense as the lead wide receiver with his most productive season coming in 2024 where he hauled in 57 receptions for 874 yards and two touchdowns on 15.3 yards per catch.

The Transfer Departures: Where are they now?

- QB Austin Simmons: Missouri Tigers
- OL PJ Wilkins: Wisconsin Badgers
- WR Winston Watkins, Jr: LSU Tigers
- LB Jaden Yates: Houston Cougars
- CB Ricky Fletcher: Cal Bears
- CB Chris Graves: Missouri Tigers
- CB Ethan Fields: Alabama Crimson Tide
- OL Jude Foster: Liberty Flames
- EDGE Corey Amos: Grambling Tigers
- S TJ Banks: Louisville Cardinals
- OL Devin Harper: LSU Tigers
- DL Jeffery Rush: Southern Miss Golden Eagles
- LB TJ Dottery: LSU Tigers
- EDGE Da'Shawn Womack: Auburn Tigers
- OL TJ Hedrick: Auburn Tigers
- EDGE Princewill Umanmielen: LSU Tigers
- WR Cayden Lee: Missouri Tigers
- RB Dominique Thomas: N/A

More Ole Miss News:

Ole Miss Football Pulls Off Historic Recruiting Feat After Landing No. 2 Portal Class

Ole Miss Football Recruiting Notebook: Three Targets Pete Golding Must Land in Year 1

'Growing Optimism' That Ole Miss Football QB Trinidad Chambliss Will Play in 2026

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