Ole Miss Rebels

Freeze confident O-line will improve this season

Published Jul. 23, 2015 3:22 p.m. ET

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Last season Ole Miss was exposed in the Peach Bowl in humiliating fashion, as TCU exploited the Rebel offensive line over and over. The Rebels season finale featured nearly as many sacks as rushing yards, as Ole Miss gave up five sacks to their nine yards on the ground.

Ole Miss seemingly racked up nine wins and finished third in the toughest division in the nation despite their poor offensive line play. How much more could they have accomplished behind a better offensive line? We may soon find out according to Hugh Freeze.

“They’re all back,” Freeze said to the Clarion Ledger. “I’m excited.”

“(They) all are looking like we want our offensive linemen to look,” Freeze continued. “Just the make-up of the body.”

Linemen Aaron Morris is down 27 pounds, Justin Bell down 15 and Jordan Sims down a whopping 60 pounds according to Freeze.

Great offensive lines cannot be built overnight, first they must be recruited before they can ever be developed. Now that they have some experience across the roster and Freeze has had three full seasons to get his players in and work with them, he believes they will turn the corner.

“I’ve said all along it would take us three full recruiting classes to get our depth chart right, and we should be there,” Freeze said. “I’ve liked what I’ve seen. I think we have a chance to be very good on the offensive line if we can stay healthy.”

With the top seven returning linemen returning this season, plus the addition of five-star prospect Javon Patterson, the Rebels are likely to see massive improvement from their front line. Ole Miss will need the five up front to lead the way if the offense has any chance to continue their high level of production from their emerging 2014 season.

(h/t Clarion Ledger)