Most Impactful Rebels for 2019: No. 44 Charles Wiley

OXFORD, Miss. — As we count down the days until the Ole Miss season opener against Memphis in the Liberty Bowl, we are releasing who we think the Top 50 Most Impactful Players will be for the Rebels this season. This series is a way for Ole Miss fans to learn more about players to keep an eye on this fall.

With 44 days before kickoff, coming in at No. 44…

Charles Wiley 

Charles Wiley, at 6-foot-2, 249-pounds, was a consensus four-star prospect at defensive end according to Rivals, ESPN, and the 247Sports Composite Rankings. He finished with 32 tackles and 16.5 sacks as a senior out of Stockbridge, Georgia before signing with Ole Miss in the class of 2016. 

Wiley was redshirted during the 2016 season and made nine game appearances during the 2017 season where he recorded six tackles, one tackle-for-loss, and a quarterback hurry during his redshirt freshman campaign. This past season, he took another step-forward recording twenty-four tackles and two-and-a-half sacks at defensive end.

Outstanding spring

This spring, Wiley was asked to move to outside linebacker along with Qaadir Sheppard, Brenden Williams, and Luke Knox, as the Rebels were moving from the 4-2-5 to the 3-4 base defense under new Defensive Coordinator Coach MacIntyre. 

Wiley performed very well during spring camp and is now listed as number two at outside linebacker on the depth chart behind Qaadir Sheppard. In fact, Wiley played so well this spring, he earned the Jeff Hamm Memorial Award for the most improved player on defense and notched five tackles in the Grove Bowl as he made his transition from defensive end to outside linebacker.

The 2019 Jeff Hamm Memorial Award – presented to the most improved defensive football player based on spring practice performance in the areas of spirit, leadership, hustle, determination and dependability – goes to Charles Wiley! #HottyToddy

📰https://t.co/mN3pkgF1pP pic.twitter.com/OtpHdgUbpd

— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) April 6, 2019

Wiley will play an important role this fall on defense for the Rebels. He’ll have the opportunity to move up in fall camp, but there is no doubt the coaches will be rotating players to keep the defense fresh throughout the games, so Wiley will be depended on more this fall than ever before in his career. 

We believe the junior linebacker will have his best season yet, and we look forward to seeing how this position change for No. 99 will allow him to hone his ability to rush the quarterback and increase his sack production at linebacker this fall. 

Hotty Toddy!

Top 50 Most Impactful Rebels:

44. Charles Wiley

45. Sincere David

46. Mac Brown

47. Jason Pellerin

48. Chandler Tuitt

49. Dannis Jackson

50. Jonathan Mingo