Saturdays without football are about to end.
Ole Miss football players will report to campus for preseason camp on Monday and the first on field practice is scheduled for Thursday.
There’s no need to rehash the expectations or hype surrounding the upcoming season for the Rebels because we’re all familiar with it by now.
But if Ole Miss wants to achieve those goals and live up to the hype, it’ll need to be better on defense. That begins up front along the defensive line which has proven to be one of the most important position groups in the SEC.
The good ones win. The bad ones don’t.
We took a look at the defensive ends on Friday, which you can read here. Today, let’s breakdown their interior teammates.
Here’s a look at the defensive tackles on the Ole Miss roster.
Ole Miss Defensive Tackles
#9 Jehiem Oatis, Sr.
- H/W: 6-foot-5, 340 lbs.
- 2025 Stats (Colorado): Played in 11 games with four starts, recording nine tackles, including four solo stops, and one pass breakup.
- How arrived in Oxford: Began his career at Alabama, playing three seasons for the Crimson Tide from 2022-24. Transferred to Colorado for the 2025 season before joining Ole Miss this past offseason.
- 2026 Outlook: Pete Golding was blunt about Oatis’ outlook for this season. “This is your last shot,” he said at SEC Media Days. Oatis will have the chance to make the most of his last season and reports have been good about him. As was the case with the defensive ends, there’ll be a rotation for the tackles and Oatis could feature prominently in that rotation.
#52 Will Echoles, Jr.
- H/W: 6-foot-3, 315 lbs.
- 2025 Stats (Ole Miss): Started all 15 games and recorded 68 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss and five sacks.
- How arrived in Oxford: Signed with Ole Miss out of Houston High School as part of the Rebels’ 2024 recruiting class.
- 2026 Outlook: Echoles was one of three players to represent Ole Miss at SEC Media Days. That should tell you enough about his outlook for the season. Echoles is expected to be the leader along the defensive line and play like one of its best. If that means improving on last season’s stat line, then great things will happen.
#88 Michai Boireau, Jr.
- H/W: 6-foot-5, 355 lbs.
- 2025 Stats (Florida): Started all nine games he played, recording 20 tackles, two tackles for loss, two sacks and one interception.
- How arrived in Oxford: Spent two seasons at Florida from 2024-25 before transferring to Ole Miss this past offseason.
- 2026 Outlook: Another offseason addition from the transfer portal to add depth along the defensive line and play meaningful snaps. Oatis, Echoles and Boireau figure to be the main three tackles in the rotation.
#90 Jayden Curtis, Fr.
- H/W: 6-foot-3, 275 lbs.
- 2025 Stats (St. Martin High School): Recorded 60 tackles, including 20 tackles for loss, during his senior season.
- Season outlook: Curtis is likely in line for a developmental season, but could see some game time in blowout wins for the Rebels.
#91 Jamarion Owens, Fr.
- H/W: 6-foot-2, 295 lbs.
- 2025 Stats (Raleigh High School): Individual senior-season totals were not listed in his official Ole Miss biography. Earned MHSAA Class 3A Mr. Football honors and helped Raleigh finish 14-1 and win the Class 3A state championship. Finished his varsity career with 155 tackles and 13 sacks.
- 2026 Outlook: Owens is likely in line for a developmental season, but could see some game time in blowout wins for the Rebels.
#95 Andrew Maddox, RS-Fr.
- H/W: 6-foot-3, 285 lbs.
- 2025 Stats (Ole Miss): Recorded 11 tackles, including five solo stops, and 1.5 tackles for loss.
- How arrived in Oxford: Signed with Ole Miss out of Oak Grove High School as part of the Rebels’ 2025 recruiting class and redshirted during his first season in Oxford.
- 2026 Outlook: This is hard to know since we didn’t see him much last season. But in his limited playing time, he showed flashes of greatness. That might be enough to warrant more playing time than only in clean up duties.
#96 Jamarious Brown, Jr.
- H/W: 6-foot-2, 315 lbs.
- 2025 Stats (Ole Miss): Played in 15 games and recorded 24 tackles, including six solo stops, and one sack.
- How arrived in Oxford: Signed with Ole Miss out of Moss Point High School as part of the Rebels’ 2023 recruiting class.
- 2026 Outlook: If Ole Miss ends up using a four-man rotation at defensive tackle, Brown would be the fourth. He’s shown an ability to be an impactful player in spot duty last season. Another offseason under his belt and some bigger names to draw the attention of opponents, Brown could be key in really extending the depth along the defensive line.
#97 Kamron Beavers, So.
- H/W: 6-foot-3, 300 lbs.
- 2025 Stats (Ole Miss): Appeared against Georgia State and recorded one assisted tackle.
- How arrived in Oxford: Signed with Ole Miss out of Bay Springs High School as part of the Rebels’ 2024 recruiting class.
- 2026 Outlook: Only so many players can be on the field and, based on the others ahead of him on the depth chart, Beavers might be looking at another developmental season. That’s not a bad thing, just the reality of the situation.
