Caleb Warren’s versatility a plus for the Ole Miss offensive line
OXFORD, Miss. — When sportswriters speak of a versatile player on the Ole Miss roster, the name John Rhys Plumlee is the one that comes up most frequently.
But the Rebels have another player who is versatile; he just happens to outweigh Plumlee by 115 pounds.
Caleb Warren is back on the Ole Miss offensive line. Just where does the 6-foot-5-inch, 310-pounder play on the offensive line? Pretty much anywhere he is needed.
“I’m taking guard and center reps in fall camp to be ready for fall if anybody goes down, just to be an extra tool the offense can use.”
Caleb Warren on where he’s playing and how his game has evolved
Warren is not just a tool for the Rebels to use, he is a Swiss-Army knife. The sophomore from Louisville, Miss. has the ability to move from position to position. This past spring, the team needed him at center, so that’s where he played. This fall, he’s been back at his left guard spot.
While Bryce Ramsey took reps with the ones in Saturday’s scrimmage in place of transfer center Orlando Urmana who is out with an injury, Warren could always slide over there if needed.
Warren was impressed with the job the o-line did Saturday. “We’ve got a couple of guys down, but overall we did pretty good today,” Warren explained. “We’ve got good communication up front.
Warren believes Umana will be back at center soon and will be able to help lead the offensive line.
“He’s been a really good asset to the offensive line,” Warren said about the Utah transfer. “He’s done really good this fall camp and we look forward to having a great season with him.”
But head coach Lane Kiffin knows he has an asset in Warren, as well.
“Caleb has been very valuable. He did a great job when he was healthy last year. We played him at center (in the spring), and he could potentially have to play there at some point in the season. He’s been very good and has played really well.”
Coach Lane Kiffin on Caleb Warren
Warren thinks the unit which features himself at left guard, Umana (center), Ben Brown (right guard), Jeremy James (right tackle) and Nick Broeker (left tackle) can be a special group.
“(We are) tough, physical — you know, we’ll get after you play in play out, every drive, every game,” Warren said. “Returning four starters, we led the SEC in rushing last year. We just look forward to having a great year.”
The Rebels averaged 210.6 yards a game on the ground and 39.2 points per game in 2020.
With the return of running backs Jerrion Ealy, Snoop Conner, Henry Parrish, Jr., and with the ability of quarterback Matt Corral to use his legs, the Rebels should be able to rack up yards on the ground again in 2021. If that happens, it will be because of the play of the offensive line who likes to let their play do the talking.
“He’s just kind of a very quiet player that plays well. You don’t hear his name very much,” Kiffin said of Warren.
If the Rebels have success this season, sportswriters will mention Warren’s name plenty.
(Feature image credit: Josh McCoy, Ole Miss)
Steve Barnes
Steve Barnes joins The Rebel Walk staff as a senior writer and brings a trifecta of journalistic experience. As a writer, he has covered college sports for Rivals.com, Football.com and SaturdayDownSouth.com as well as served as a beat writer for various traditional newspapers.
He has been a broadcaster for arena football and several national tournament events for the National Junior College Athletic Association as well as hosting various shows on radio.
A former sports information director at Albany (Ga.) State University and an assistant at Troy and West Florida, he has helped host many NCAA conference, regional and national events, including serving five years on the media committee of the NCAA Division II World Series.
Barnes, a native of Pensacola, Fla., attended Ole Miss in 1983-84, where his first journalism teacher was David Kellum. The duo has come a long way since that time.
He will bring a proven journalistic track record, along with a knack for finding the out-of-the-ordinary story angles to The Rebel Walk.
Barnes continues to reside in Pensacola a mere ten minutes from the beach because he does have taste and a brain.
