Former Ole Miss star at the NFL Combine reveals the key breakout players who will carry Lane Kiffin and Rebels defense in 2025
The Ole Miss pass rush was the best in all of college football last season. It's going to take some huge breakout seasons from a number of Rebels players entering into expanded roles for Lane Kiffin's team to come anywhere close to repeating their absurd 52-sack performance in just 13 games for 2024.For reference, exactly […]
The Ole Miss pass rush was the best in all of college football last season. It's going to take some huge breakout seasons from a number of Rebels players entering into expanded roles for Lane Kiffin's team to come anywhere close to repeating their absurd 52-sack performance in just 13 games for 2024.
For reference, exactly zero teams in the entire nation except for Ole Miss average at least four sacks per game. And on top of those 52 sacks the collective defensive efforts amassed nearly 300 total pressures of opposing quarterbacks. So how in the world do the Rebels do that again? Former Ole Miss star edge defender Princely Umanmielen believes he has the answer.
When I talked with Princely Umanmielen at both the Senior Bowl and the NFL Combine on Wednesday he couldn't help but speak highly of the incredible defensive unit all around him at Ole Miss. However, he also seemed extremely confident that Suntarine Perkins (10+ sacks last year already), Will Echoles, and his brother Princewill (a transfer from Nebraska) would help the Rebels dominate along the defensive front. He also talked through a bit of advice he's shared with the younger guys.
"I try to tell my little brother [Princewill Umanmielen], you've got to grow up fast. I thought–in my head–nobody could tell me that I wasn't going to go three [years] and out [to the NFL] when I first got to college. And then you look up and you're a junior. It goes by really, really fast. It's like damn I'm not even mature yet. So I tell my little brother and some of [the younger] guys you just have to grow up fast, and you have to become a pro fast. You can't be childish anymore. You have to really lock in and do all the things outside of the football facility and in the facility on your own to be a pro."
It's great advice from Princely. And it's even more meaningful coming from a player who broke out a bit slower than he might have wanted to, but eventually put it all together to become a potential first round 2025 NFL Draft pick. Hopefully his younger brother Princewill, Will Echoles, Suntarine Perkins, and other Ole Miss Rebels set to step up in 2025 take heed.
Suntarine Perkins has already broken out as a potential superstar as a phenomenal edge and off-ball linebacker hybrid defensive weapon. He's elite in coverage, efficient in pass rush, and will likely become the leader of the Ole Miss defense this year for Echoles, younger Umanmielen, and others to follow.
Will Echoles "has a little bit of Walter Nolen to him" according to Princely Umanmielen, and the Rebels are going to need him to show it. The former high four star recruit is a converted offensive lineman to freakishly athletic defensive tackle and should become a star.
Princewill has struggled to break out in a huge way as a pass rusher just yet, but Lane Kiffin, Pete Golding and the entire Ole Miss staff continues to get the most out of their defensive playmakers up front. Let's hope he as well as Echoles and Perkins can be as good as Princely Umanmielen believes.
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If you want to see just how special Suntarine Perkins can be at his best, just check out the highlights from his game against Oklahoma last year in the video below.
