This is your 3-2-1, a content item that will appear weekly during the preseason and each Sunday (Tuesday after the Monday opener) once the season begins. While it will almost always be football focused, other topics may be included as needed.

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1 - Kentrel Bullock is in the mix at running back

Depth charts are fan discussion points more than concrete evidence of the roles that will come once the ball is kicked off, but one spot on the running back line was interesting on Monday.

Second-year running back Kentrel Bullock was positioned third on the depth chart, behind Jerrion Ealy and Henry Parrish and ahead of Snoop Conner. All four are expected to play and with the possibility of Ealy and Parrish moving out to the slot on occasion, there’s a lot of creativity in store to get touches to the quartet.

Conner is going to get his carries. He’s the bruiser of the bunch and looks better than ever. He averaged just more than 10 touches per game a year ago and scored eight times. His position on that page in the game notes isn’t consequential, but Bullock’s name above him could mean the one least talked about could have a bigger role than is routinely discussed publicly.

Bullock had two carries last season — one for seven years and one for four yards — but the 5-foot-10, 210-pounder certainly looks the part and is another cog in what is likely Ole Miss’ deepest backfield in a long time — a necessity considering the Rebels ran the ball 58 percent of the time in 2020, the third most in the conference behind Kentucky and Arkansas.

“Take all three of what you just said and put it in one guy and that’s Kentrell,” Ealy said of Bullock when asked how to compare the sophomore to the other three options. “Very valuable, he’s a guy who can hit you, but he’s got home run speed and also has red zone power. He’s got the best of both worlds and the size to go along with it.”

People around the program have raved about Bullock since he arrived on campus, and he was always seen as a potential star in the future. He may also a coming-out part here in the present.

2 - There don't appear to be any major injury surprises from camp

Lane Kiffin isn’t going to elaborate on injuries, but he’s shown no desire to lie to the media either during his tenure in Oxford.

Throughout fall camp he declined to discuss specific ailments but repeatedly said there are no long-term injuries to “significant” players beyond what was known at the beginning of camp. Significant could be an exercise in semantics, but the depth chart bore out what Kiffin has been telling us each week.

Casey Kelly and Tavius Robinson aren’t listed. Kelly tore his ACL following the Outback Bowl while snowboarding, and Robinson has missed all of camp with an undisclosed injury.

Otherwise, players who missed practice time are listed in spots that make sense, given what we’ve known and seen.

Ben Brown and Orlando Umana are both on the first-team offensive line at right guard and center, respectively, and Bralon Brown is listed at third-team receiver behind Braylon Sanders and Dannis Jackson.

Bralon Brown’s progress was slowed at a minimum the past weeks, and he’s one interesting player to watch on Monday to see if he gets any snaps. He could fall into the not significant category when Kiffin was updating things.

3 - Louisville is worried about Ole Miss' offensive tempo

Ole Miss’ overall offense is a concern for Louisville this week, but beyond the playmakers and the scheme, it’s the tempo that has defensive coordinator and former Ole Miss player and coach Bryan Brown most worried.

The Rebels ran an average of 83 plays per game last season, while Louisville faced an average of 66 plays per game. Getting calls in quickly and making sure players are lined up have been emphases for the Cardinals.

"The goal has been to simulate that tempo, and I don’t think we can simulate that tempo because those guys go really, really fast,” Brown said. “We’re trying to condition our guys to get ready for the next play immediately. No celebrating, get the call, get lined up and get ready to play. Ole Miss gets you in trouble when you’re not ready to play, you’re trying to make certain checks… Our guys have to just line up and get ready.

“The most important thing is for me to get a call in immediately. They are going to do a lot of things we haven’t practiced… We have to get them lined up and let them play.”

Brown was a cornerback for the Rebels from 2003-2006 and was a graduate assistant and a defensive administrative assistant, respectively, in 2010 and 2011.

“Stay your butt on top because he can throw it deep,” Brown said about how to defend Corral. "He does a tremendous job with the deep ball and underneath. He looks the DBs off. He is so quick to his second and third read and oh my God we have to make sure we’re not out of position. He knows where to go with the football. With a year under his belt, it’s going to be even better. We have to get him uncomfortable but make sure our guys are inn position to make plays.

“The offensive line is really good. The transfer from Utah (Orlando Umana) fits in perfect with those guys. Their running game is really well but people don’t talk about it because of the passing game being phenomenal. Lane will spread out the weapons and use every blade of grass and make us cover it.”

1 - How will Ole Miss rotate its defensive front?

The defensive front is a question mark for Ole Miss heading into he season, with Quentin Bivens and KD Hill listed as co-starters at one interior position and junior college transfers Jamond Gordon and Isaiah Iton both listed at the other defensive tackle spot.

Bivens and Hill averaged 27 and 26 snaps per game, respectively, last season while obviously Gordon and Iton have yet to take Division I snaps.

How quickly the two transfers transition to this level is a key for the Rebels to workable depth and the rotation necessary to stay fresh and assist the other parts of the defense.

"They stand out physically," defensive coordinator DJ Durkin said during fall camp. "They are very physical at the point of attack and they take great pride in it. That's an identity for them. Looking forward to seeing how they progress.”

Heralded true freshman Tywone Malone was still in a non-contact jersey during the parts of camp media were permitted to see, but if he’s available, Malone can play across the defensive front. He’s currently listed second team behind Sam Williams at defensive end.

Tariquious Tisdale can also rotate at end or tackle to provide matchups and snaps in different alignments.

The Rebels are more athletic in the secondary, and there’s more depth at linebacker, but a lot of the improvement up front hinges on Iton and Gordon accelerating the move from junior college to workable snaps in the SEC.

2 - Will any other offensive linemen play if Rebels are healthy?

Ole Miss was extremely lucky with offensive line health a season ago, a needed bit of fortune considering the lack of depth up front in Kiffin’s first season.

The Rebels played 831 offense snaps in 2020, and offensive linemen Ben Brown, Nick Broeker and Royce Newman played 816, 815 and 815 of those snaps each.

Caleb Warren and Reece McIntyre played 671 snaps and 175 snaps, respectively, though only 19 of Warren’s snaps and 21 of McIntyre’s snaps were in games they didn’t start. Any rotation on the offensive line was minimal, as there were only 72 total mop-up offensive line snaps spread among other players.

The Rebels have some trusted depth on the interior of the offensive line and can effectively shuffle around, but I’m curious if Kiffin tries to get any other tackles playing time on Monday, outside of Broeker or James needing to be off the field for any reason.

Cedric Melton, who can play inside or outside, and McIntyre are listed behind Broeker, and freshmen Tobias Braun and Micah Pettus are backing up James, according to the school’s depth chart.

South Carolina transfer Jordan Rhodes is listed at guard and is co-second team with Hamilton Hall, who played 14 snaps last season — 13 of those against Vanderbilt.

Sanders is Ole Miss’ best receiver, and he’s primed for a standout season as the closest thing to an Elijah Moore replacement, as far as NFL potential.

He’s going to get his on Monday and likely take the top off the Cardinals at some point, but at least in game one, I think Dontario Drummond may be Corral’s safety valve and lead the Rebels in catches.

It’s possible Ole Miss moves Drummond into multiple spots in the formation, and he has the hands and size to be formidable across the middle and close to the line of scrimmage.

Drummond should be more comfortable with more experience, and he had six catches for 110 yards in the Outback Bowl on nine targets — with Corral looking to him most often without Sanders, Kenny Yeboah or Ealy on the field.

Drummond played 94 percent of Ole Miss’ snaps last season, with 93 percent of those lined up out wide. There’s more versatility this year if the Rebels choose to scheme it that way, and that could give Corral a familiar, trusted option in advantageous matchups.