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After losing the most feared defensive lineman in school history, Ole Miss’ current defensive line hasn’t toned down its potential for 2016.
Robert Nkemdiche was a first-round draft pick and drew so many double teams, it wouldn’t be fair to ask any one man to replace his presence.
But there are many more than one aiming to keep Ole Miss’ front a fierce one, the headliner junior defensive end Marquis Haynes, was asked during the Rebels’ media day how good the line could be.
“On a scale of 1-10, it’s a 10. We can be really, really special,” Haynes said. “We’ve got all the talent, all the keys we need for the D-line. We’re just ready to go.”
Haynes will be at one end, coming off a year where he tied for fourth in the SEC with 10 sacks and led Ole Miss in sacks and tackles for loss (16.5).
Fadol Brown started eight games last season and is expected at the other end to convert some of his 10 hurries into sacks. He came out of a walking boot just in time for practice.
“We all have this competition because they’re always talking about, ‘We’re going to meet you in the backfield, Marquis,’” Haynes said. “We’re all competitors. We all compete.”
Along the line, there are numerous bodies. At defensive tackle, Breeland Speaks started two games as a redshirt freshman and had 32 tackles and 5.5 tackles for loss. True freshman Benito Jones, one of three five-star recruits, is expected to make an immediate impact. Redshirt freshman Austrian Robinson is tied with Jones at No. 2 defensive tackle on the first depth chart after coming to Oxford as an end.
Seniors D.J. Jones and Issac Gross are interchangeable at nose tackle. Jones was a junior college transfer who played in every game last season and was second among linemen with 40 tackles and second on the team with four sacks.
“When you’ve got a guy beside you doing great things, it makes you want to be great,” Jones said. “We’ve got playmakers just like Robert. Robert was a great player, but we have other guys to sub in and make plays just like he did.”
Gross is a fifth-year senior returning from neck surgery.
“Issac Gross being back is like a breath of fresh air,” Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze said.
The undersized-but-valuable Gross (6-foot-1, 263 pounds) was a Freshman All-American and started 10 games at nose tackle the next two seasons. He played the opener against UT-Martin last season before being lost for the year.
The quality depth Freeze set out to build is starting to deepen up front. Senior DE John Youngblood is the Chucky Mullins Courage Award winner and has played in some capacity in every game the last two seasons. Sophomore Victor Evans had 16 tackles in 11 games as a reserve end last season. Four-star defensive end recruit Charles Wiley is practicing as he awaits the fate of a late July arrest on domestic abuse charges.
Sophomore Ross Donelly is already catching Freeze’s eye in practice and trying to get more into the rotation at nose tackle, where Jones welcomes the competition.
“If (someone else) is doing better than me in practice, start him,” Jones said. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“To me, our whole D-line, everybody knows the plays, the ins and outs. It really doesn’t matter who starts,” Haynes said. “We’re all contributing the same.”
