On3 Roundtable: Defining expectations for Ole Miss defense under Pete Golding

Former Alabama defensive coordinator Pete Golding packed his bags and moved from Tuscaloosa, Alabama to Oxford, Mississippi to join Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels this offseason. Many Rebel fans across the country are curious as to how their defense will perform in the 2023-2024 campaign.

Recently on the On3 Roundtable with On3’s J.D. PicKell, Ben Garrett of OM Spirit dropped in to give his thoughts on Golding and what he expects out of the Rebel defense this fall.

“That’s the thing. We’ve been talking about how bad this defense has been,” Garrett began. I feel like we always talk about it every single year for the modern era. For the last handful of years. Oh, it’s defensively. Ugh, they’re struggling here. They don’t got this. They don’t got that. But this group, when I was out there at practice, 7 of their 11 starters were transfers. And these aren’t just guys that were looking for a starting opportunity elsewhere.”

“You’re talking about Zamari Walton, who was a four-year starter at Georgia Tech, now starting at corner. [DeShawn Gaddie, Jr.] in the nickel right now and he’s a multiyear starter at North Texas. Now North Texas is not a Power Five, I actually understand. But….you could go across the board. Daijahn Anthony starts at Liberty. Teja Young took starts at FAU. Monty Montgomery, multiyear starter at Louisville,” Garrett continued.

“Now, is there a bunch of next level talent amongst this group? That’s debatable, but I will say that they have a lot of competency across the board and they have depth of options they’ve never had before. So, I think it’s not in any way a stretch to say, yeah, this defense is gonna finish Top 50. And if this defense can finish Top 50, with this offense, and what Lane Kiffin does offensively and inarguably, one of the best players in college football in Quinshon Judkins,” Garrett said.

Quinshon Judkins was electrifying as a freshman, racking up 1,567 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns. It shouldn’t be surprising to see many people pencil him in as a Heisman contender heading into the 2023 campaign.

“You could start to talk yourself into sleeper status for Ole Miss. Like, if the 12-team playoff year was this year, you could absolutely talk yourself into Ole Miss being one of those contending teams for the 12-team playoff. So, I think they’re really in for a competitive year,” Garrett said. “The only question I have, of course, is the strength of that schedule. It’s just an absolute brutal schedule. But I feel more bullish about this team and being able to attack that schedule having now put eyes on it in fall camp, than I did this time in the spring. Whatever it was. Yeah. I think they’ve got some talent, man. I’m excited to see them put it all together.”

Ole Miss has plenty of exciting playmakers to watch

Ole Miss does have plenty of exciting pieces on both sides of the ball. Along with Judkins, they’ve got Ayden Williams at wide receiver. He earned a spot on On3’s Freshman All-American Team this preseason and earned plenty of praise from On3’s Charles Power.

They’ve also got a player who many have tabbed as an impact player this fall, freshman linebacker Suntarine Perkins. He was rated as the No. 14 overall prospect in the country in the 2023 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Rankings. Perkins will be a name to star and remember this fall and in the coming years, without a doubt.