Ole Miss rebels: 5 Players to Watch in 2026
By George Somerville
Whisper it quietly. The Ole Miss rebels might be really good this season. Wait, what George? Have you lost your mind?
I guess the opening statement isn’t quite as dramatic as it sounds. Ole Miss was really good last year. 2025/26 saw the Rebels end the season with a 13-2 record (the first in Rebels football history) only halted by a Miami Hurricanes team who made it to within a cats whisker of bringing a National Championship to Coral Gables.
So, the Rebels had an exceptional season. Of course all of the hoopla surrounding the Landsharks just now is because Lane Kiffin is no longer the Head Coach. Kiffin would like us to think that the Rebels football program has fallen into chaos since he made that dramatic move to Baton Rouge in December.
But this is far from the truth. While time will tell, the staff and athletes who stayed with Pete Golding are firmly behind their Head Coach. Oxford has witnessed a new found solidarity after their mercurial Head Coach vamoosed to Louisiana under cover of night.
Add in the return of perhaps the most exciting quarterback in not just the SEC but in all college football and its understandable why the quiet confidence in Oxford is building to a crescendo just in time for the start of the new football season.
Here are the five players to watch as the Ole Miss Rebels launch their attack on the SEC in August.
This time last year we were all focused on Ole Miss taking on the season with Austin Simmons as the leader of the team. And with good reason.
However fast forward 12 months and Simmons is a Missouri Tiger and Trinidad Chambliss is the Rebels QB1 and a pre season Heisman favourite.
Chambliss a transfer from D2 Ferris State quickly became a sensation after he entered game two against Kentucky which Simmons exited with an ankle injury. The Michigan native immediately clicked with Kiffin’s offense leading them to their first 7-1 SEC season in decades.
A Senior Role
Chambliss now in his senior year looks to better his debut season for the Rebels where he was voted SEC Newcomer of the year. In what was a historical year for the Rebels, Chambliss threw for 3,927 yards and 22 touchdowns with only 3 interceptions. His full season QBR of 86.5 had NFL scouts eagerly anticipating that he would make himself eligible for the 2026 Draft. Not so fast. Chambliss elected to return to college for a final year and to the surprise of many, he decided not to follow the Pied Piper (Kiffin) to LSU.
So this sets up for a must watch season for the Ole Miss Quarterback. Especially week 3 when those LSU Tigers roar into Oxford marking the return of Kiffin. Chambliss et al will be ready and waiting for that one.
As an ex Ole Miss Head Coach once said, “get your popcorn ready”!
Chambliss’ bid to improve upon last season will be made all the harder by an almost entirely new receiver room. Only Deuce Alexander returns from what was a very talented wideout room last year. However the new look wide receiving corps is bolstered by the addition of transfers Darrell Gill Jr (from Syracuse) and Horatio Fields (Auburn).
The addition of Gill Jr is especially interesting. Last season Gill Jr had 32 receptions for 506 yards with the Syracuse Orange and travels South with the confidence that he can be Chambliss’ main target this season.
The 6’3″, 190lb wideout averaged 15.8 yards per catch last season which would have made him the Rebels leading receiver should he have already been playing football in Oxford. His size makes him the tallest receiver in the room and add in that new Rebels offensive coordinator John Baker runs an “air-raid” type of offense, makes for exciting times for fans in the Grove this season
There is change on the defensve side of the ball also. In the linebacker room Princewill Umanmielen will be sorely missed as will his 9 sacks that he recorded last season. The LSU Tigers are rightly pleased that he chose to jump ship alongside Kiffin.
To counter this Golding has brought in five defensive linemen including Jonathan Madonado from Nevada. An established edge rusher, Maldonado had five sacks and nine tackles for loss last year as he made a name for himself with the Wolfpack. At 6’6″ and 250lbs already has a SEC size frame and local beat writers report that he has added another 15lbs since arriving in Oxford. Maldonado knows what it will take to thrive in the SEC.
Playing in the SEC will be a steep learning curve for the Senior from California. However Maldonado knows the prize for an outstanding season will be an invite to the 2027 NFL Draft. In his media interviews so far Maldonado has not hidden from he fact that he is at Ole Miss and the SEC to develop as a player and to turn into a NFL player.
While Golding secured the #2 ranked transfer portal class this off season its not just about the transfer portal at Ole Miss. A player that is on campus for his third year, Linebacker Suntarine Perkins is shaping up to be the best Linebacker in the SEC this season. Which for all the reasons that I have previously outlined is great news for Ole Miss fans.
Perkins is extremely flexible and can line up on the edge – where he is very effective, operate as a traditional linebacker but also drop into space against slot receivers and tight end’s. This makes him a Swiss army knife type player for Golding which will prove invaluable this year.
In 2024 Perkins finsiehd the season with 10.5 sacks with 14 tackles for loss which was the second most in Ole Miss history. In 2025 he totalled 81 tackles with 4.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and an interception. While some comment that his production tailed off in 2025 these are still impressive statistics for a player who’s role changed to quarterback spy during the season.
Having been on the Ole Miss program since 2003 Perkins holds a key leadership role and almost certainly will be a captain this season.
Lucas Carneiro is one for you offcianado’s of the kicking game. I know who you are! And I aim to please. At last a kicker I hear you say!
Last year Carneiro had an off the charts first season at Ole Miss. Making 88% of field goals and 100% of extra points the Rebels kicker from North Carolina was a stand out. Even before Carneiro made the 47 hard field goal to secure the Sugar Bow win over Georgia, Carneiro had achieved cult status in Oxford. Making the kick that took the Rebels to a College Football Playoff semi final gainst Miami was the icing on the cake. And the pun is unintended here because Carneiro is a difficult kicker to ice.
At the end of last season Carneiro was ranked #1 kicker across D1 schools. With kicks over 50 yards the Ole Miss kicker was 5 of 7 which reduced his overall kicking percentage. However two of this >50 yards field goals came in the Sugar Bowl win demonstrating the confidence that his coaches have in him. It also broke Sugar Bowl records.
Kickers rarely look to dramatically improve upon a previous season as consistency and continuity are key. Meaning Ole Mss fans should expect more of the same from their kicker. Sounds good dontcha think!?
George Somerville
COLLEGE FOOTBALL Writer
George is a long standing fanatic of life in the Deep South and writes his weekly column titled “It’s only SEC” for the touchdown.
He is also co-host and one third of the College Chaps Podcast, the UK’s original podcast dedicated solely to the college gme.