Twenty-Two Names to Know for the Ole Miss Season: No. 12 Chris “Pooh” Paul, Jr.

OXFORD, Miss. – As we lead up to week one in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium for the kickoff of Ole Miss football’s 2024 season, The Rebel Walk team is highlighting one player each day. We’ll break down who they are, how they got here and what we expect from each.

Today, we take a look at the No. 12 player on our list, LB Chris “Pooh” Paul, Jr.

Yesterday we profiled TJ Dottery, so we’ve got back-to-back linebackers on the list as today we discuss talented Arkansas transfer, “Pooh” Paul Jr. The redshirt junior looks to be in a position to make a major impact for the upcoming season as a leader on this Ole Miss defense.

Film Room Share

Another one of those “my guys”.

Pooh Paul was 9th on my rankings for TRW22. Just absolutely love the quickness when he gets downhill. One of those let him pin the ears back and go players. Highly productive.

Watch him make the move inside and go. pic.twitter.com/CKQx6aij4s

— T.J. (@TJOxley1) August 20, 2024

How did Chris “Pooh” Paul Jr. arrive at Ole Miss?

In high school, Paul played on both sides of the ball for Crisp County High School just outside Cordele, GA. During that time, Paul was highly effective at both delivering and trying to avoid hits as a linebacker and running back. In high school, he notched three straight seasons of 90+ tackles. As a senior, he recorded 20.0 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks as a linebacker. On offense he also averaged 8.4 yards per carry.  During that acclaimed high school career, he helped Crisp County reach the Georgia State championship game.

Paul should be a familiar name to those who keep up with SEC football as he spent the past three seasons at Arkansas under head coach Sam Pittman. Joining the Razorbacks as a member of the 2021 class, Paul redshirted in his freshman season but still appeared in four games.

It was in 2022 where Paul, not-so-quietly made a name for himself despite Arkansas being very deep at the linebacker position. Paul was getting rotational snaps behind both Bumper Pool and Drew Sanders. When he was on the field, Paul was highly productive, mirroring the production of both Sanders and Pool. His on-field play earned him 2022 freshman All-America second team honors as well as freshman All-SEC honors.

Per PFF, Paul recorded a 76.2 overall grade with an 83.5 pass rush grade. He also held a 71.8 run defense grade and 65.7 coverage grade.

In 2023, Arkansas was forced to hire a new defensive coordinator when former DC Barry Odom left to take the head coach position at UNLV. Despite similar production and a leadership role on that Arkansas defense, Paul entered the transfer portal after the 2023 season.

After visiting Ole Miss, Paul committed to play for Lane Kiffin and Pete Golding. At the time of his commitment, Paul was the top-rated linebacker in the transfer portal.

BREAKING: Ole Miss and Lane Kiffin receive commitment from the nation’s No. 1 transfer portal linebacker, Arkansas’ Chris “Pooh” Paul, Jr. #HottyToddy #TransferToTheSip https://t.co/AHE6xOLyyH

— The Rebel Walk (@TheRebelWalk) December 9, 2023

Career Outlook

Paul brings over 137 career tackles and SEC big-game experience to the Ole Miss second layer. Despite being behind two Arkansas stars in 2022, Paul provided an All-American caliber season as a redshirt freshman.

In 2022, Paul had to earn time on the field and displayed positive statistical progression as the year went on. On the year, he amassed 62 total tackles, 8.0 tackles for loss, and 4.0 sacks. Of the 8.0 tackles for loss, 6 came in the final half of the season (games 7-13). Continuing that, 3.0 of the 4.0 sacks came in the final half as well. In 2023, he doubled his stats with 124 tackles and 16.0 tackles for loss.

In 2023, Arkansas hired Travis Williams to replace Odom as the defensive coordinator. Statistically, Arkansas improved on the defensive side of the ball. Looking at the film, Arkansas’s linebackers really struggled and things looked unorganized at times. Arkansas lost a lot of games by close scores and things didn’t quite gel fully. This could be in part as to why both Paul and Arkansas’s leading tackler (Jaheim Thomas) from last season both entered the transfer portal.

In 2023, Paul still saw an increase in production. In 11 games, he recorded 74 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, and 2.0 sacks. In 514 snaps, Paul only recorded six missed tackles.

Heading into 2024

The Ole Miss linebackers room has some big names in it. Defensive Coordinator Pete Golding, through his career, has been good at adapting to his personnel and putting players into positions to succeed. He will have to do so with returning players such as Khari Coleman, as well as the new guys like TJ Dottery, Raymond Collins and of course Pooh Paul. We can also mention the Swiss Army knife, Suntarine Perkins, as well. Perkins has been getting time to line up on the edge this season.

Paul will undoubtedly be one of the leaders on this Ole Miss defense. He brings that SEC production, understanding, and experience to this Ole Miss unit.

Physically, we can expect to see him used like he was at Arkansas where he can go sideline to sideline and get downhill. At 6’1, 235 lbs, Paul really shoots out of the cannon from the linebacker spot. The best position is to let him pin his ears back and attack to get into the backfield. He excels at getting past lineman with that quick burst and agility to side-step linemen in pursuit.  Paul also provides a good amount of pop when he gets into the backfield.

Similar to what was said about Chris Hardie, the depth and talent on the defensive line will provide opportunities for Paul. Having twitchy speedsters off the edge like Princely Umanmielen, and a Suntarine Perkins creates this uber speed rush when you let Paul race in there as well. Even if Ole Miss plays its big defensive front and eats up blocks there’s still room for him to crash plays. For Paul, it’ll be interesting to see how Golding schemes his blitzes. But Paul can really get after it and can be a good mix of that sideline to sideline LB mixed with a downhill blitzer.

Camp Notes

According to Rebel Walk insider, Kam Wicker, Paul looks to be working alongside Dottery in the middle of that second layer. Recently Paul addressed the media discussing multiple topics. “I feel like this team is confident, especially the defense.”

He also discussed what has been asked of him. “The only thing the coaches ask me to do every day is lead and give 100% every day.”

One things for sure, this Ole Miss defense will be fun to watch and Chris “Pooh” Paul Jr. should be a name to for all Ole Miss fans to get used to!