The Rebels didn’t wait long after losing their top pass rusher to the transfer portal.
Ole Miss went out and found two replacements and both of them are already turning heads in spring practice.
Blake Purchase and Jonathan Maldonado enrolled in January and are working their way through the Rebels’ spring camp.
They’ve got different skill sets, but Ole Miss defensive coordinator Bryan Brown thinks they bring exactly what the defense needs.
“Blake Purchase is a heavy-handed guy who can come off the edge,” Brown told the media Friday. “He’s twitchy and can play the five-technique really well. He does a great job against tight ends and is going to be a big asset for us.”
Purchase spent last season at Oregon, appearing in 15 games and finishing with 32 tackles, two sacks and 4.5 tackles for loss. He played in a system under Dan Lanning that coach Pete Golding believes translates well.
“Blake Purchase has been in a similar system with Dan at Oregon,” Golding said. “I think he’s a really good football player.”
Maldonado’s film already speaking volumes
Maldonado arrives from Florida with a more extensive résumé. He finished last season with 38 tackles, nine tackles for loss and 5.0 sacks — second on his team.
His Pro Football Focus numbers stand out even more. Maldonado posted an 85.8 pass rush grade and a 79.5 overall defensive grade, both placing him among the top three on the current Ole Miss roster.
At 6-foot-5, he’s got the frame that jumps off the film room screen.
“Jonathan Maldonado is long. Really long,” Brown said. “I paused the film the other day and it looked like the tackle couldn’t even get his hands on him. He’s got a really good first step as a pass rusher.”
Golding echoed those thoughts and added a few of his own.
“Maldonado has got an elite skillset,” Golding said. “He’s 6-foot-5, can corner. I think he’s a really elite pass rusher, still heavy-handed.”
A program source described Maldonado to the Ole Miss Spirit as an “explosive EDGE rusher who is physical in the run game” with an “elite mindset” and the potential to be “special.”
Filling the void left by Umanmielen
The player the Rebs are replacing carried a complicated backstory of his own. Princewill Umanmielen transferred in from Nebraska, where he had just 35 total tackles and 1.5 sacks across two seasons.
He started his Ole Miss career slowly too, recording just 2.0 sacks through mid-October.
But he eventually found his footing and led the Rebels in sacks by season’s end before entering the portal as the top-ranked EDGE rusher available.
Despite re-signing with Ole Miss, the departure eventually became official.
The program didn’t hesitate. Brown summed up the new group’s potential.
“Adding those guys to what we already have on the edge, we feel like we can do some really good things defensively, both in the pass rush and in the run game,” he said.
A returning core that’s already proven
The additions of Purchase and Maldonado don’t walk into a thin room.
The Rebels return a defensive line with real experience, including Kam Franklin and William Echoles — two players who were transfer candidates themselves before Lane Kiffin’s departure from the program.
Echoles was especially dominant last season. He ranked first among all Power 4 defensive tackles nationally with 39 quarterback pressures and came in at No. 48 on ESPN’s Top 100 players for the 2025 season.
Both Echoles and Franklin tied for second on the team with 5.0 sacks.
“Will Echoles is a really elite player,” Golding said. “Kam Franklin has continued to develop and really show what we thought he was going to be on a consistent basis.”
The Ole Miss coach also highlighted the depth and experience elsewhere along the front.
“Jamarius Brown, his third year in the system, played a lot of football,” Golding said. “Andrew Maddox has the ability to be a really good player. He’s a guy last year that really learned the system and knows the expectations, seen it done the right way.”
Suntarine Perkins ranked third on the team with 4.5 sacks last season and is heading into his fourth and final year with the program.
Golding noted that Perkins “has been a three-year starter for us” and “understands what we’re asking him to do.”
More portal additions round out the unit
Ole Miss also added Jordan Renaud from Alabama, Michai Boireau from Florida and Jehiem Oatis from Colorado through the transfer portal.
Renaud arrived with a preexisting injury and isn’t currently practicing, though he’s expected back within a few weeks.
Golding spoke directly about expectations for Oatis.
“Jehiem can be as good as he wants to be,” Golding said. “That was the one thing in the recruiting is like, ‘Hey brother, it’s time to make the right decisions.
“This is your last opportunity. You’re coming home. This is what we’re going to expect from you.’ So, we’re expecting them to do some good things.”
The context behind all this roster movement matters. Ole Miss won a program-record 13 games in 2025-26 and advanced to the College Football Playoff semifinals.
The Rebels aren’t rebuilding. They’re reloading and the defensive line is shaping up to be one of the deeper units in the SEC heading into the fall.
