Ole Miss football, Lane Kiffin land North Carolina transfer tackle Diego Pounds

OXFORD — Ole Miss football and Lane Kiffin on Monday landed a key offensive line addition — and one of the contenders for college football's all-name team.

North Carolina transfer Diego Pounds announced on social media his intent to play for the Rebels next season.

Pounds, listed at 6-foot-5½, 330 pounds, started at left tackle for the Tar Heels this past season.

He improved as the season went on, registering a pass-blocking grade of 74 from Pro Football Focus that would have comfortably been the best among the Ole Miss regulars in the trenches. His 53.1 run-blocking grade, though, would have been the worst.

The Rebels lost one of their starting tackles in Victor Curne, who exhausted his collegiate eligibility after the Peach Bowl. Their other starter, Micah Pettus, suffered a season-ending injury and did not appear in Ole Miss' final four games.

Pounds is the second transfer portal reinforcement on the offensive line, joining Southern Miss guard Gerquan Scott.

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David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.

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This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Diego Pounds transfer: Ole Miss football lands UNC offensive lineman