Big Defensive Tackle Speaks Hopes to Anchor Rebel Line

Breeland Speaks

As the Rebels prepare to battle power running teams like Alabama and LSU this season, they’ll need all the beef up front they can muster.

Breeland Speaks, signed today to play defensive tackle at 6-4, 285-pounds, from Callaway High School in Jackson can answer the question “Where’s the beef?”

But it’s not just his girth that led to his status as a consensus 4-star recruit, MaxPreps first-team All-American and 135 national overall prospect ranking by a credible scouting publication. Speaks has the instincts and quickness rarely found in a young man his size. He even played middle linebacker as a high school junior

Those qualities led him to a breakout year with perennial power Callaway High from Jackson. This past year he was named first team All-State at defensive tackle and Metro Player of the Year by The Clarion-Ledger. He was also tabbed Class 5A Defensive Player of the Year by the Mississippi Association of Coaches.
Marvel at these stats:
• 118 tackles, 26.5 tackles for loss, nine sacks
• 18 QB hurries, four forced fumbles, three blocked kicks
• 5 pass breakups and an interception returned for a touchdown while helping Callaway win a school-record 14 games and reach the Class 5A state semifinals
As a junior, Speaks led the Callaway Chargers with a team-high 136 tackles, along with nine TFLs and five forced fumbles while playing middle linebacker.
Speaks was coached at Callaway by Daryl Jones and greatness flows in his blood. The big tackle’s brother, Marcellus Speaks, was an All-American linebacker at Jackson State.