{"id":88960,"date":"2026-07-08T09:27:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T13:27:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=88960"},"modified":"2026-07-08T09:27:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T13:27:12","slug":"how-good-will-the-ole-miss-defensive-line-be-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2026\/07\/08\/how-good-will-the-ole-miss-defensive-line-be-in-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"How Good Will the Ole Miss Defensive Line Be in 2026?"},"content":{"rendered":"
After what seems like a short offseason<\/a>, we’re already down to less than two months before the start of the 2026 college football season. Conference media days are set to gear up in the coming weeks, which then leads into the start of Fall practice for most programs. In Oxford, one of the biggest questions being asked as we start to look towards the season is how good the Ole Miss defensive line can be in 2026.<\/span><\/div>\n
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We’ve all come to assume that the Rebel offense will be fine. Even losing Lane Kiffin and Charlie Weis Jr, new offensive coordinator John David Baker runs a similar system, and they’re bringing back <\/span>Trinidad Chambliss<\/a><\/span> and <\/span>Kewan Lacy<\/a><\/span>. With that, there aren’t too many questions about the offensive firepower that will be seen this season.<\/span><\/div>\n
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But the defense is a slightly different story. Can the Pete Golding-led defense, especially up front, create enough pressure so that the Ole Miss offense doesn’t have to be nearly perfect?<\/span><\/div>\n

Can the Ole Miss Defensive Line Prove to be Elite?<\/span><\/h2>\n

A Tough 2025 Following a Solid 2024 Season<\/span><\/h3>\n
For Ole Miss, last season was more successful than the 2024 campaign. Last year, the Rebels made it to the College Football Playoff semifinals. Led by Chambliss and Lacy, the Rebel offense finished second in the country in yards per game (490 ypg.) They also finished in the top-10 nationally in points per game (37 ppg.)<\/span><\/div>\n
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The issues were on the defensive side of the ball. The Ole Miss defense finished 37th in the country in scoring defense, allowing over 21 points per game. In terms of total defense, the Rebels found themselves 48th nationally, giving up 348 yards per contest.<\/span><\/div>\n
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In 2024, they missed the playoffs entirely despite posting better numbers. The Rebel defense was elite, led by <\/span>Walter Nolen<\/a><\/span>, <\/span>Princely Umanmielen<\/a><\/span>, and <\/span>Jared Ivey<\/a><\/span>. They finished second nationally in scoring defense, first in sacks, and 14th in total defense. As for the offense, Ole Miss finished 2024 second in total offense and third in scoring offense. The problem was the offense going cold for extended periods.<\/span><\/div>\n
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For the defense, the sack total dropped by 17, from 50 to 33, despite playing two more games in 2025. Of similar importance, last season, the Rebels gave up 149 yards per game on the ground. In 2024, that number was 81 yards per game.<\/span><\/div>\n
If Ole Miss wants to be viewed as a true contender for a national title, the defensive front has to play better. A good offense can help drastically, but they can’t be asked to do it all themselves.<\/span><\/div>\n

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The Ole Miss Defensive Line Returns a Solid Core in 2026<\/span><\/h3>\n
For 2026, the defensive line looks like a solid unit for the Rebels. They return <\/span>Will Echoles<\/a><\/span>, a possible first-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft, and <\/span>Kam Franklin<\/a><\/span>, a potential late-round pick in next year’s draft, on the interior. Both of those guys were freshmen on the elite 2024 defense and saw limited playing time that season. Now, entering their third year in the Golding system, there’s hope they continue to take big leaps forward.<\/span><\/div>\n
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One other returning piece to keep an eye on is <\/span>Suntarine Perkins<\/a><\/span>. Another freshman from the 2024 class, Perkins has become a fan favorite in Oxford, largely due to his ability to line up just about anywhere on the defensive side of the ball. At only 210 pounds, he lines up primarily as a linebacker, but does have the speed and motor to step down to the edge and rush the passer at times. If there is a concern, it’s that he does miss too many tackles (14 missed tackles in 2025). Despite that, he’s projected as a probable day two pick in next year’s draft, giving you an idea of the upside and potential he possesses.<\/span><\/div>\n
With three guys all returning for their third year in the same system, especially when all are projected early to mid-round draft picks, the individual talent up front for the Rebels goes without question. The question now is whether they can work well together and continue moving forward.<\/span><\/div>\n

A Talented Transfer Class For the Ole Miss Defensive Line<\/span><\/h3>\n
The talent for the Rebels’ defensive front doesn’t just stop with returning players, however. In addition to the guys returning, Golding and his staff also brought in a few key pieces through the transfer portal to add depth.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Along the defensive line, Oregon transfer <\/span>Blake Purchase<\/a><\/span> and Nevada transfer <\/span>Jonathan Maldonado<\/a><\/span> are expected to be key pieces to the Ole Miss defense in 2026. Purchase comes in as an edge rusher who recorded 4.5 tackles for loss on limited snaps during his junior year in 2025. Like Perkins, he has split time between edge rusher and linebacker throughout his career.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Maldonado makes his way to Oxford after having just completed his junior year at Nevada. In 2025, he recorded 38 total tackles, to go along with five sacks and an interception. As a lean, 6’6 edge rusher with long arms, he uses his speed to get after the quarterback, but he also has the length to knock balls down at the line, as well.<\/span><\/div>\n

Will Any Freshmen Make an Impact?<\/span><\/h3>\n
With a solid returning core and a good transfer class coming in, there’s likely going to be limited snaps for anyone else along the Ole Miss defensive line. However, there are two freshmen to keep an eye on. Landon Barnes is a 6’4, 250-pound edge rusher out of Duncanville, Texas. Despite being a freshman, he’s going to be a solid SEC lineman sooner rather than later, based on Spring practice. There’s no question he already has the size; the biggest thing for Barnes moving forward is continuing to develop the strength to compete at the next level and the instincts that come with more experience.<\/span><\/div>\n
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One other freshman to watch out for is Carmelow Reed. At 6’6, he’s another long defensive lineman for the Rebels. The one question is where he’ll line up. He primarily played on the edge in high school, which landed him as the 13th best player in the state of Illinois in this year’s class, coming out of the Chicago area. However, he has put on decent weight throughout the offseason, which could lead to him potentially being moved towards the interior. If he can be moved to the inside, he’s going to have the chance to get some snaps in as a reserve.<\/span><\/div>\n

How Good Will the Unit Be?<\/span><\/h3>\n
The depth is there. The individual talent is there. And based on his past, we know that with Golding, the coaching will be there. And we also know that under Golding, they’re going to be aggressive, but being aggressive and having talent only matter if you can actually get to the quarterback and fill in gaps to stop the run.<\/span><\/div>\n
And most importantly, finish the tackles when you’re in position to do so. In 2024, Ole Miss did that extremely well. Last year, not so much.<\/span><\/div>\n
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While they don’t necessarily have to have the success from 2024, they do have to be better than they were a year ago if the Rebels are going to have continued success in 2026.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Main Photo: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After what seems like a short offseason, we’re already down to less than two months before the start of the 2026 college football season. Conference media days are set to gear up in the coming weeks, which then leads into the start of Fall practice for most programs. In Oxford, one of the biggest questions […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4571,"featured_media":88963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,35582,3],"tags":[36222,32566,35828,36034,495,4470],"class_list":["post-88960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-ole-miss-rebels","category-sec","tag-carmelow-reed","tag-charlie-weiss-jr","tag-john-david-baker","tag-landon-barnes","tag-lane-kiffin","tag-pete-golding"],"modified_by":"Kate Pearson Halyburton, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4571"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88960"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88960\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88964,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88960\/revisions\/88964"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}