Tuesday Practice Report: Notes and observations from Ole Miss football as Rebels continue spring practices
OXFORD, Miss. – Tuesday morning meant another day of spring practice for the Ole Miss Rebel football team, which means more updates from media practice viewings surrounding the early stages of the 2024 football season in Oxford.
Things you love to see 🍿@Lane_Kiffin | #ComeToTheSip pic.twitter.com/tyQN9KShun
— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) March 23, 2024
What we saw on offense
One of the main focuses of the 2024 offseason in Oxford so far has been the new-look offense line for the Rebels. Sunday night on our Rebel Talk podcast, we spoke about the depth of this offensive line unit as a whole. With the addition of four transfer linemen and almost every big man up front returning from the 2023 squad, the trenches on both sides of the ball should be in good shape.
At practice this morning, Diego Pounds stood out in drills against other linemen. The UNC transfer looks the part. Another transfer lineman that caught my eye today is Julius Buelow. The 6-foot-8, 315-pound Washington transfer towered over other very massive human beings.
Although Caleb Warren started nearly all of the 2023 season at center, other returning linemen such as Reece McIntyre and Brycen Sanders took snaps alongside him today to provide some depth at the position. McIntyre has experience in that role during previous years at Ole Miss.
Taking a look into the running back room, Kedrick Reescano stood out today as he showed his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield often. While many are familiar with what Ulysses ‘Doo’ Bentley IV and LSU transfer Logan Diggs can do, I would look for Reescano to have a much bigger role in the Rebel offense moving forward.
During our viewing periods in practice today, the Rebel quarterbacks mostly threw against air. Jaxson Dart seemed to have a great connection throwing to Cayden Lee today, Austin Simmons kept feeding the tight ends and Walker Howard threw some absolute dimes down field.
In the future, I would advise Rebel fans to keep a close eye on Cayden Lee and Ayden Williams. The returning wideouts could both potentially have breakout sophomore seasons.
What we saw on defense
Outside of the defensive line unit, the rest of the Landshark defense seemed to do more listening and walking through drills at practice this morning until meeting up with the offense.
With that being said, we still got a good look at some of the abilities the new faces on the defensive side of the ball will display in 2024. Michigan transfer Amorian Walker stood out to me today, a really lengthy and quick corner who is coming from a roster that won the 2023 National Championship. Another corner who looked the part is Alabama transfer Trey Amos, guarding the best receiver on the field on most occasions during live practice.
In other defensive back positions, safeties Trey Washington and South Alabama transfer Yam Banks both played the ‘over-the-top’ free safety role in practice today. Transfers Louis Moore and Key Lawerence both worked in that slot safety spot today, allowing them to fly around the field.
Having one of the better defensive lines in the SEC, defensive coordinator Pete Golding has free range at how he chooses to play the very versatile group. Seeing Joshua Harris, Zxavian Harris and Walter Nolen stand next to each other today just showed how ‘scary’ a heavy defensive front could look for the Rebels next year.
Another dangerous piece of the Rebel defense for 2024 will be Suntarine Perkins. Going into his sophomore season this coming up season, Perkins continues to work mainly on the edge but still has the potential to be used as a utility guy. TJ Dudley flashed his abilities in the Peach Bowl while coming off the edge. The returning Rebel will likely have a much bigger role this year as we saw him play out in space today.
Up Next
The Ole Miss football team will continue spring practices leading up to the annual Grove Bowl on April 13th. Our next viewing opportunity will be Thursday morning, so keep an eye out for updates then, as well.
Tomorrow morning, March 27th, Ole Miss will host its NFL pro day for former Rebels and our team will be there with updates.
Stayed tuned for more info on spring football practice in Oxford!
Kameron Wicker
Kam is an undergraduate at Ole Miss, currently pursuing a degree in Journalism. Even though he’s from Delhi, Louisiana, that didn’t stop Kam from growing up a diehard Ole Miss fan. He’s a sports guru who watches and follows all sports at all times. He lettered four years in football and baseball in high school and is an avid Saints, Pelicans, and Astros fan. In his free time, you can find him watching sports or at the rec participating in them.
