College football is back with what’ll hopefully be a plethora of shiny objects to distract us from the chaos running amok off the field.
The first real games are going on this weekend and the full slate of college football teams will kickoff their seasons next weekend. For No. 9 Ole Miss, that’ll be Sunday in Nashville against No. 24 Louisville in the Music City Kickoff game.
A lot will happen over these next eight days, but the Rebels’ are set. No former NFL players are coming back. They’ll roll into the season with a roster that first-year coach Pete Golding is confident can reach the program’s lofty goals for the season.
If Ole Miss wants to reach those goals (i.e., making the playoffs, compete for championships) it’ll need big seasons from its superstars, such as Trinidad Chambliss and Kewan Lacy. But other players will need to have big seasons, too.
Here are three offensive players not named Chambliss or Lacy that Ole Miss needs to have great seasons in order to have the season it’s hoping for.
Terez Davis, LT
You could put whoever starts at right tackle here, but the left side is the blindside for Chambliss and is always an extremely important position. Davis, in his second season in Oxford after transferring from Maryland, has won the starting job and is responsible for taking on opponents’ best pass rushers.
Why Davis is important doesn’t need much explaining. Chambliss can’t do the things that make him special if he’s running away from pass rushers or lying on his back often. Lacy can’t get far downfield if he’s having to juke defenders in the backfield.
Ole Miss’ interior offensive line has been a known quantity all offseason. The tackles, though, were big question marks. Davis needs to be the answer for Ole Miss to win.
Honorable mention: Tommy Kinsler IV/Carius Curne
Luke Hasz, TE
Hasz’s first season in Oxford was hampered by an injury, but he did start to make an impact later in the season. Ole Miss needs that impact to show up sooner this season, though.
The offense is built around explosive plays and balance, and having a tight end who can stress defenses changes what this group can be. Hasz fits that mold. He’s the most complete tight end on the roster, the one who can line up anywhere, block well enough to keep the run game honest and still be a real threat down the seam.
If he becomes a consistent matchup problem, the offense opens up in ways it couldn’t last season.
He also gives Chambliss something he didn’t have enough of a year ago: a reliable safety valve. Chambliss can make every throw, but even elite quarterbacks need a player who can settle the offense when things get chaotic. Hasz can be that guy.
Honorable mention: Caleb Odom
Deuce Alexander, WR
This may seem obvious, but of the wide receivers most needed to be great Alexander tops the list. Wearing the No. 1 jersey, Alexnader will be expected to carry on the tradition of elite players wearing Ole Miss’ No. 1 on offense.
He’s strong enough to win through contact, fast enough to threaten vertically and polished enough as a route runner to be a problem for any secondary.
He also gives Chambliss a true go‑to option in high‑leverage moments. Every good offense needs that player who can settle things down when the drive starts to wobble.
Alexander fits that role. He’s reliable, competitive and already respected by teammates and defenders who see him every day in practice. If he’s producing at a high level, defenses have to shade coverage his way, and that opens everything else — the run game, the tight ends, the slot receivers, all of it.
Ole Miss doesn’t just need Alexander to be good. It needs him to be the kind of receiver who changes how opponents game‑plan.
Honorable mention: Caleb Cunningham
