Ryan Buchanan May Lead, but Chad Kelly Will Be Ole Miss' Starting QB

Chad Kelly was the sizzle this spring in Oxford, but apparently Ryan Buchanan is the steak.

Buchanan, a 6'3", 208-pound redshirt sophomore from Jackson, Mississippi, exited spring practice with a slight lead over Kelly, the 6'3", 220-pound dual-threat junior college transfer, and redshirt sophomore DeVante Kincade.

"In the totality of spring, going back before today, I would say that Ryan Buchanan had a lead in my mind," head coach Hugh Freeze said in quotes released by Ole Miss following the spring game on Saturday. "That certainly doesn't mean that he is going to be the starter."

Rogelio V. Solis/Associated Press

If Buchanan was the leader going into the Grove Bowl on Saturday, Kelly did all he could to close the gap.

Buchanan completed five of his 16 passes for 49 yards, zero touchdowns and one pick on Saturday, while Kelly completed nine of his 19 for 104 yards, one touchdown and one pick, according to stats released by the school.

The highlight for Kelly was a 43-yard touchdown strike to Taz Zettergren to get the scoring started.

As Brad Logan of Rebel Nation and 96.3 The Ticket in Tupelo, Mississippi, points out, Kelly looked sharp in Freeze's offense:

So why is Buchanan in the lead?

Experience, plain and simple.

This is Buchanan's third season under Freeze at Ole Miss, and he not only knows what Freeze expects, but also what many of his teammates are thinking. He has the luxury of being on the same page with pretty much everybody in the program, while Kelly has had to pick that up on the fly.

Rogelio V. Solis/Associated Press

While Kelly ran virtually the same offense at East Mississippi Community College last season, won a national title, threw for 3,906 yards and rushed for 446, he has been forced to play catch-up this offseason due in part to a re-dedication to tempo by Freeze and his staff.

The Rebels ran 69.6 plays per game last year after running 78.3 plays per game in 2013 and 74 plays per game in Freeze's first season in Oxford in 2012.

"We have gone back to my Arkansas State days," Freeze said. "What I found out last year is that you cannot go from slow to fast, but you can go fast to slow. We have definitely made an emphasis on getting our tempo back. I think our kids handled it well. I think that it helped make us more effective and efficient."

If Ole Miss is going to play faster, of course that favors the quarterbacks who have been there longer and are more comfortable with the scheme and personnel.

In the end, though, Kelly will be the man in Oxford.

He showed on Saturday that he has a big arm, is consistent on the timing routes underneath and has the dynamic running ability that Buchanan simply doesn't have. That's important, because Ole Miss not only needs to find another weapon on the ground opposite edge threat Jaylen Walton, but Kelly can add an even bigger wrinkle off the read-option with Jordan Wilkins, Eugene Brazley or Akeem Judd providing the threat between the tackles.

Kelly may not have the lead, but he's in a heated race and has far more upside. That should earn him the starting nod when toe meets leather in Ole Miss' season opener versus UT-Martin on Sept. 5.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of CFBStats.com, unless otherwise noted, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports' composite rankings.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and college football video analyst for Bleacher Report, as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on Sirius 93, XM 208.

Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.