Sawyer proved to be one of the few bright spots in an otherwise abysmal 2011 season for the Rebels. Flipping back and forth between cornerback and free safety as injuries robbed Mississippi of its depth, Sawyer registered 70 tackles and finished third in the SEC with 13 passes defended, including four interceptions. He'd flashed the ability to be a potential shutdown cornerback a year earlier. After redshirting in 2009, Sawyer quickly developed into one of the Rebels' more reliable defenders, posting 49 tackles and four passes defensed (two interceptions) despite only starting four of 12 games. Surrounded by a relative lack of talent, Sawyer's big plays in pass defense and surprising toughness as an open field tackler (especially in run support) made him a fan favorite and Freeze quickly gravitated towards Sawyer as one of the faces of his program, bringing him to represent the university to the SEC Media junction in Birmingham, Alabama. Freeze also asked Sawyer to make another position change, moving him to the rover position in his 4-2-5 alignment. Despite his lack of size, Sawyer has the anticipation, ball skills and toughness necessary to thrive in this role. Unfortunately, there will be a delay in Sawyer's transition. As if Freeze needed any bad news prior to the season, Sawyer suffered a partially torn quad August 5. The injury is expected to keep Sawyer sidelined for at least another few weeks and could put the beginning (or more) of his 2012 season in jeopardy.

If Sawyer was Ole Miss' brightest star a year ago, Marry was a close second. Despite only starting nine of the team's 12 games a season ago, Marry paced the Rebels with 81 total tackles, chipping in six tackles for loss and two sacks along the way from the middle linebacker position. Marry originally signed with Ole Miss in 2009 but academics forced him to greyshirt and thus his first season of action on the field came in 2010. He saw action in ten games (one start) and finished with 22 tackles, including three for loss and a sack before breaking through a season ago. Marry possesses prototype size for inside linebacker, demonstrating the toughness to take on and fight through blocks as well as proving himself to be a strong, wrap-up tackler. He is best in a straight-line, however, showing only average agility and foot-speed, overall, struggling to beat speedy SEC ball-carriers to the edge. He also struggled with pass coverage duties a season ago, though he made improving in this area a priority over the off-season. Marry will continue at the middle linebacker position in Freeze's 4-2-5 scheme. The alignment may cap the number of tackles Marry will have in 2012 as the action isn't funneled to the middle linebacker quite as much as it is in a normal 4-3 alignment. However, it could result in more plays behind the line of scrimmage, which could put the Rebels' talented linebacker in position to make more impactful plays.