No One Wants to Play Ole Miss, SEC QB draft stock updates and more: What’s on Bruce Feldman’s radar
Georgia was the overwhelming No. 1 team of the preseason. Texas is the highest-ranked SEC team in the College Football Playoff at No. 3. Alabama has more Top 25 wins this season than the CFP’s top five teams combined.
But the SEC team no one wants to play right now isn’t even in the top 10.
“If you ask me right now which team I would least want to play against, it’s Ole Miss,” said an SEC defensive coordinator of a Top 25 team. “They are now the most talented defensive team in the league. They have all these difference-making pass rushers and a true lockdown corner in Trey Amos.
“They put all these guys up front. Three guys in the top five sack leaders in the SEC (Suntarine Perkins, 10 sacks and tied for No. 1; Princely Umanmielen, 9.5 sacks and tied for No. 2; and Jared Ivey, 7.5 sacks and tied for No. 5). That’s crazy! (JJ) Pegues was a featured man for them last year; he is still really good (11.5 TFLs, two sacks) and he’s not even in their top three! Walter Nolen is also very good. A four-pocket insider is pretty good. It’s really impressive.”
The other part of this that multiple SEC assistant coaches noticed was that Ole Miss was beating up Georgia even though the Rebels were without their best player, Tre Harris, a wide receiver dealing with a lower-body injury. Harris’ 141 yards per game leads the nation.
Last Saturday, the Rebels held Georgia to the fewest points of the Kirby Smart era (10), fewest total yards in seven seasons (245) and fewest rushing yards since 2021 (59). Ole Miss leads the SEC in yards per play allowed in games against ranked opponents among the 14 teams that have met at least two Top 25 opponents. Last year, the Rebels were last in the SEC in those games with 7.81 YPP.
To say Ole Miss has a ferocious defensive front is an understatement. That’s why defensive line coach Randall Joyner, a protégé of Larry Johnson, makes a good case to consider the Broyles Award. That award is given to the nation’s top assistant, but of course Rebels defensive coordinator Pete Golding also makes a compelling case. Ole Miss has 23 more TFLs than anyone in the SEC (103) and 18 more than anyone in the country. It also has 13 more sacks than any other team in the SEC.
Four players already have double figures in TFLs, and Ivey is close with 9.5. Last year they only had one guy with double figures (Ivey with 11.5). Eight rebels have at least four TFLs.
Much of that impact is due to the commitment Ole Miss made this offseason to upgrading its talent in the trenches through the portal.
Umanmielen, who came from Florida, and Nolan, who came from Texas A&M, were the big headliners. But other transfers make a statement: top tackler Chris Paul Jr. (74 tackles, 10 TFLs) from Arkansas; second leading tackler TJ Dottery of Clemson; Amos from Alabama; and defensive back John Saunders of Miami (Ohio). Some current leaders transferred three years ago, such as 325-pound Pegues (Auburn), Ivey (Georgia Tech) and linebacker Khari Coleman (TCU).
The 6-foot-1, 255-pound Umanmielen has had 11.5 TFLs and 8.5 sacks in his last six games and has emerged as a dominant force for the Rebels.
“His fast start is phenomenal,” said a Rebels coach The Athletics this week. “He puts them where he wants to counter them, sometimes with a spin move, or sometimes he goes from speed to power. One of Georgia’s tackles went over too quickly because he was so concerned about Princely’s speed rush, so Umanmielen countered him with a spin move and was able to get a sack. He is very smart and can study the opponent’s tackles well. He takes them apart.”
Umanmielen made just one appearance in a 29-26 loss to LSU due to injury.
“If we had him, we would win that game,” said the Rebels coach.
The 6-1, 210-pound Perkins, a former five-star recruit, was once again a nightmare on offense.
‘He’s so incredibly explosive. He is one of the best QBs in the country,” the Rebels coach said.
“He’s stronger than you think at the point of attack because he’s a lighter guy,” said a rival SEC DC who has seen a lot of Ole Miss on crossover film. That coach was very impressed with the work Golding has done this year. “They’re hosting more games than they used to in Alabama. He’s been very aggressive on first and second downs and he’s really unleashed the D-line.”
Suntarine Perkins (4) was a force of nature for the Rebels. (Petre Thomas / Image)
What else is on my radar
Trends in the coaching carousel
The coaching carousel often follows perceived trends. There are not expected to be many changes this winter, but one thing to keep an eye on is whether older, proven winners from lower levels of football are in vogue. Why? Athletic directors and search company heads have taken note of what happened in Indiana this year, I’m told.
Curt Cignetti has led the Hoosiers to a 10-0 start. The 63-year-old began his head coaching career in 2011 at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in the Division II PSAC (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference), where he spent six seasons before transferring to FCS Elon in the CAA (Coastal Athletic Association). where he went 14-9. Cignetti was then hired at James Madison, where that program was elevated to FBS under him; JMU went 11-1 in the Sun Belt last year. Cignetti follows the success of Lance Leipold, a former Division III coach who has won big everywhere he has gone as he rose through the ranks.
Cignetti’s established way of running a program has paid off in Bloomington. It’s why Skip Holtz, who spent more than two decades as a head coach outside the Power 4 and is now riding high in the UFL, could play for Southern Miss and Rice’s openers. The same goes for Sam Houston’s KC Keeler, a 65-year-old who has won two FCS national titles. Keeler took a team that went 3-9 in Conference USA in its first season in the FBS to a 7-2 mark that started with a blowout win over Rice in August.
I expect Keeler to play for both the Rice vacancy and USM.
SEC QB draft stock
Georgia QB Carson Beck’s draft stock isn’t the only one in an interesting spot. LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier, a redshirt junior who spent much of the previous two seasons on the sidelines watching Jayden Daniels, was emerging as the top quarterback prospect in the class, according to our NFL draft expert Dane Brugler 2025. But that changed since halftime of the Tigers’ loss to Texas A&M last month.
Nussmeier, the son of Eagles QB coach Doug Nussmeier, is ranked No. 30 on Brugler’s latest Top 50 Big Board. “With only 10 collegiate starts on his resume, Nussmeier would be wise to return to school,” Brugler wrote.
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In recent weeks, defenses have continued to show him different snaps and give him different looks, whether that was to expose six players and apply pressure or to push people off the edge.
Nussmeier has thrown five INTs in the last two games – both losses by double digits. Still, his arm talent is enticing.
“I really think he’s the most talented,” an old NFL scout told me. “If I was a GM, I would pick him over all these guys. He just needs to play a lot more. I think he’s seeing things he’s never seen before. He has eleven starts and it is starting to show. (Texas A&M coach Mike) Elko did some things to him and he looks confused.
“I think he’s as good as any of them,” said another SEC DC. “He’s much more aggressive than Carson Beck. He’s a real marksman, and he says, if my man is covered, I can open him up – and 70 percent of the time he’ll be right. He has also cost his team at times because they are so much more one-dimensional than Georgia.
“This kid is probably getting a beating right now. This kid looks like Brett Favre. He’s a terrible marksman. If he figures it out, in a year or whatever, he could have a great career. I’m telling you, in big moments, during two-minute car rides, you’re like, “Holy shit, this guy is good.”
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A wildcard QB prospect
The biggest wild card in the 2025 NFL quarterback draft class is Louisville’s Tyler Shough. The 6-5, 230-pounder started his career at Oregon before transferring to Texas Tech before transferring again to Louisville. He has thrown for 20 TDs and five INTs this season and has thrown nine TDs and just two picks in four games against top 25 opponents.
“The guy with the best tape in terms of physical tools is Tyler Shough,” said one NFL scout. “If you compare him to the Riley Leonards, Will Howards and Kurtis Rourkes, and throw in Mark Gronowski, Shough’s arm talent looks head and shoulders better. I know there are some age and durability questions about him. He’s never finished a season, so knock on door, I hope he makes it through this year. He can really throw it away. If you told me four years from now that he has stayed healthy and is a winning starter in the NFL, I wouldn’t be shocked.
“It’s a weird (quarterback) class.”
(Photo illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletics; Photos: Wesley Hitt, John Bunch/Icon Sportswire via Getty)
