"My dawg" - Ole Miss QB Walker Howard drops heartfelt birthday wish for sister Allyson
The only game time that Ole Miss quarterback Walker Howard has managed this season came during the Rebels' Week 1 76-0 win over the Furman Paladins. He attempted two passes and did not complete either while falling behind Rebels QB1 Jaxson Dart and backup Austin Simmons in the Ole Miss QB depth chart.
Ahead of the Rebels' Week 9 clash against the Oklahoma Sooners, Howard posted a hearty birthday wish for his sister, Alysson Howard, on his Instagram stories.
The story, which contained a picture of the siblings, was captioned:
"Happy Birthday my dawg," Walker Howard wrote.
Walker Howard battling for his future in Oxford
Walker Howard was a four-star recruit in the Class of 2022, and he joined the Ole Miss Rebels from the LSU Tigers via the transfer portal last year. Although he was never in contention to usurp Jaxson Dart as the Ole Miss QB1, he was in the running to be the backup quarterback in Oxford.
Howard, a junior, battled Austin Simmons for the backup role throughout the preseason, ultimately losing out to the redshirt freshman. During his postgame news conference after the win against Furman, Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin revealed why he picked Simmons instead of Howard to be QB2.
“I think it was very close,” Kiffin said. “Both guys had a really good camp. Did really well. It was a hard decision. Just felt that Austin played a little better right at the end, the last couple competitive situations, but it was a very hard decision. We’re very confident as you saw with both guys going in there and running our offense.”
Simmons was also a four-star recruit in the Class of 2023, and Lane Kiffin further challenged Howard to distinguish himself from the pack of backup quarterbacks due to his experience in college football.
“I think that they’ve both (Simmons & Howard) done a really good job,” Kiffin said. “AJ Maddox has done a really good job too. It’s been really competitive in there. I think that all three are really smart and really do a good job handling and running the offense.
“We should probably expect more out of Walker being the veteran of those three, but all three have done a really good job.”
With Jaxson Dart tabbed to be one of the top quarterback picks in the 2025 NFL draft, Walker Howard could have the chance to once again battle Austin Simmons for the Ole Miss Rebels' starting quarterback job next year.