Ole Miss’ defensive line looks to take the lead in 2016

1:08 AM ET

OXFORD, Miss. – Before Ole Miss’ football team opened spring practice, the defensive line huddled to make one thing clear about its role in 2016.

“We have to be the leaders of this program,” sophomore defensive tackle Breeland Speaks told ESPN.com earlier this month.

Pretty cut and dry. Pretty accurate.

On a team that returns arguably the SEC’s best quarterback from last year in record-breaking first-year starter Chad Kelly, the foundation of leadership — and performance — for this team will come from the big guys who aim to make Kelly miserable in practice.

This wasn’t a coaching challenge, either. This was something the linemen themselves decided shortly after the end of Ole Miss’ 2015 season. They looked at the pieces coming back and realized that with the numbers they had and the talent ready to burst within the group that this was going to be the heart of a team looking to make its first-ever trip to the SEC championship game in Atlanta.

It’s a group filled with in-game troublemakers and depth that most SEC teams would drool over. While only two starters return — ends Fadol Brown and Marquis Haynes — Ole Miss has 10 lettermen coming back and this spring welcomed ESPN 300 members Benito Jones (five-star DT) and Charles Wiley (four-star DE).

Fadol Brown (left) is one of two returning starters on a deep, talented Ole Miss defensive line. Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

Even with Brown out this spring (foot) and defensive tackles Issac Gross (neck) and Herbert Moore (ACL) limited, Ole Miss’ defensive line had a solid spring with a ton of quality rotation, Speaks said. With the freshmen getting on campus and making early positive impacts, he believes Ole Miss could be three-deep at each defensive line spot with little …

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