Ole Miss football placed eight on preseason All-SEC and All-America teams from Athlon Sports.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Third-year linebacker\/EDGE Suntarine Perkins<\/a> led the way on the All-SEC first team. He was second-team All-America. Perkins already picked up preseason honors from On3, Phil Steele and Walter Camp.\u00a0<\/p>\n Perkins currently carries a first-round grade for the 2026 NFL Draft. He\u2019s also the highest-ranked player for the Rebels in EA College Football 26, which released on Monday.<\/p>\n \u201cThough Perkins had shoulder surgery in January, he\u2019ll be full-go by the fall,\u201d On3\u2019s Ari Wasserman wrote in naming Perkins a preseason All-American. \u201cWhat does full-go look like for opposing offenses? Torture. Though he doesn\u2019t have the size as a typical linebacker, Perkins flies all over the field. Last year he had 14 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks. If he gets better next year \u2014 which he will \u2014 he\u2019s going to be one of the biggest defensive stars in the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n The Rebels in the off-season\u00a0signed Western Kentucky placekicker Lucas Carneiro<\/a>\u00a0as the replacement for Caden Davis. Carneiro was the preseason CUSA Special Teams Player of the Year, and later a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award.\u00a0Three times in 2024-25 Carneiro was named CUSA Special Teams Player of the Week.<\/p>\n RELATED: Carneiro, Perkins highlight strong showing for Ole Miss in preseason awards<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Carneiro made 26 of 30 field goals in his two seasons with the Hilltoppers, including a long of 54. <\/p>\n All he lacks is a kickoff leg, per sources. He was 18 for 19 last year and 6 for 6 from 50-plus. He made all of his extra-point attempts and all nine of his attempts from 40-plus. Carneiro chose Ole Miss over Oklahoma and others.<\/p>\n He was second-team All-SEC, according to Athlon, while veteran wide receiver Cayden Lee and tight end Dae\u2019Quan Wright were on the third team. Offensive lineman Patrick Kutas, defensive lineman Zxavian Harris, linebacker TJ Dottery and defensive back Jaylon Braxton were all on the fourth team.<\/p>\n \u201cHe definitely can kick off. We\u2019ve been hitting a lot of kickoffs recently. He\u2019s pretty solid at those, too,\u201d Ole Miss veteran long snapper Carter Short told the Ole Miss Spirit<\/a> of Carneiro. \u201cBut his field-goal accuracy is unbelievable. He\u2019s one of the best kickers I\u2019ve seen.\u201d<\/p>\n Ole Miss opens the 2025-26 season against Georgia State August 30.<\/p>\n The Rebels last season won 10 games for the third time in four years. However, they fell short of expectations in missing the College Football Playoff.<\/p>\n