With the Ole Miss season opener finally upon us, here’s what to expect from Pete Golding’s Rebel defense

OXFORD, Miss. — In roughly 24 hours, Ole Miss fans from around the nation will be having the time of their lives watching the Rebs kick off the season opener against the Mercer Bears. 

A few days ago, we gave you our thoughts on the Ole Miss offense. So now let’s take a final preseason look at the latest on new defensive coordinator Pete Golding’s unit and his Landsharks you should keep an eye on this season.

Defensive Line

In the trenches, the Rebels will present quite a few options which all have loads of experience at the Power 5 level. On Saturday, Rebel fans can expect seniors Cedric Johnson, and Jared Ivey on the edge, and JJ Pegues at defensive tackle. The question comes when discussing the second tackle spot, which has shifted countless times throughout the fall. In camp, it has been both Nebraska transfer Stephon Wynn Jr.. and North Carolina State transfer Joshua Harris who have taken the majority of their reps alongside Pegues.

Regardless of the starter, you should expect several different rotations within the defensive line against Mercer. Other names you can bet will make an impact include sophomore Zxavian Harris, junior Akelo Stone, senior Isaac Ukwu, senior Jamond Gordon, freshman Chamberlain Campbell, and freshman Deejay Holmes Jr. This defensive line has taken a massive jump in depth in comparison to the 2022 season, and is one to be excited about.

Linebackers 

One of the most impressive parts of this re-vamped defense comes at the linebacker position. Between the speed, size, experience, and depth, there are many ways for this linebacker group to make an immediate impact for Golding and his defense.

The names we saw practicing with the starters throughout the fall varied multiple times. Some of those most common players at the position, however, included Louisville transfer Monty Montgomery and University of Central Florida transfer Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste, two big pieces that were acquired through the transfer portal.

In addition, Ashanti Cistrunk and Khari Coleman were also used frequently throughout the fall. To no one’s surprise, freshman and former five-star recruit Suntarine Perkins is also starting to create a name for himself and has seen a lot of reps with the starters in the last couple of weeks.

This energy, all year 🦈@suntarine | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/sJa2BpE0lK

— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) August 27, 2023

As well as Perkins, senior and former junior college standout Reginald Hughes has found a very productive role at outside linebacker, a  position Golding refers to as the “Buck.” Hughes has even referred to outside linebacker as his “home.” Yet another name to keep an eye on is former three-star and sophomore Tyler Banks.

Lastly, Ladarious Tennison, who has been battling an injury throughout the fall, started getting some looks at linebacker. The former safety provides speed, strength and would play an extremely efficient role in coverage. This further goes to show the depth along with the talent that Golding will have to work with at linebacker this year.

Defensive Backs

After Davison Igbinosun (Ohio State), Markevious Brown (Purdue), and Miles Battle (Utah) transferred out of Ole Miss, fans had some very real concerns with the lack of depth at cornerback. So, what did Golding and his staff do? They went out and brought in four new corners from the transfer portal: Jadon Canady from Tulane, Zamari Walton from Georgia Tech, Chris Graves from Miami, and DeShawn Gaddie from North Texas.

Out of all of the corners ready to go for Saturday, senior Deantre Prince might be the only starter who did not transfer in from another school.

Defense stealing the show 🦈#HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/C96QjjZPKv

— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) August 16, 2023

Playing on the other side of Prince will likely be Walton who is 6-foot-3, long, and very athletic. Gaddie has also been heavily involved in the rotation due to his speed, experience, and physicality. Gaddie comes into the season as the highest PFF-graded cornerback in the SEC.

Highest graded returning SEC Cornerbacks🔥 pic.twitter.com/Pcwt6sKoMn

— PFF College (@PFF_College) June 22, 2023

Graves, out of Miami, is a former four-star who is just starting to learn the playbook due to his delayed arrival in Oxford, but he will be a critical part of this defense in the future, if not later this season. Freshman AJ Brown also solidified his talent at corner throughout camp and could very well find his way onto the field this fall.

At Alabama, Golding put his corners in a lot of one-on-one situations and it appears he has found the playmakers to do the same here at Ole Miss. Rebel fans, this is a group that specifically should be fun to watch knowing that a large majority of them are transfers!

Safeties

The safety group is very similar to the cornerback room not only on the field but off of it as well. Tysheem Johnson, who started at safety all year in 2022 for Ole Miss, transferred to Oregon. Safeties coach Wes Neighbors and Golding then brought in John Saunders, Jr. from Miami Ohio, Teja Young from Florida Atlantic, and Daijahn Anthony from Liberty. 

On top of the transfers, the Rebels are bringing back senior Isheem Young, junior Trey Washington, and redshirt freshman Taylor Groves. All six of these players have shown plenty of ability not only in their careers but throughout fall camp. If I had to predict two starters for the Rebs Saturday, I would say Saunders Jr. and Johnson.

With that being said, it will not take long for all of these candidates to find themselves in the game during weeks one and two. The only question for Golding and Neighbors is who is going to be the most efficient for them in the game. Luckily, with the options at hand, that question should be answered quickly.

Game info

To see the new-look Ole Miss defense, tune in at 1 p.m. as your Rebels take on the Mercer Bears to kick off the 2023 college football season in Oxford. The game will be streamed on SECN+/ESPN+.

Hotty Toddy!

(Feature image credit: Ole Miss Athletics)