With the month-long recruiting dead period commencing this past Monday, Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze and his staff can take a bit of a breather as they prepare their team for their upcoming Sugar Bowl matchup against Oklahoma State.

Freeze and company should be happy with their work heading into bowl season. They have assembled the nation’s No. 3-ranked — No. 1 in the SEC — recruiting class for 2016.

The 20 Ole Miss commits for next season are headlined by nine four-star recruits and two five-stars. The Rebels will be losing plenty of players after this season, many to the NFL Draft. But they will be reloading with a very talented class.

Let’s take a look at Ole Miss’ recruiting grades so far.

OFFENSE: A+ (12 TOTAL COMMITS)

When you land the nation’s No. 2 and No. 5 overall prospects, especially when one of them happens to be a quarterback, you get an A+ grade for recruiting. In this case, those players are OT Gregory Little (No. 2) and QB Shea Patterson (No. 5), who will be joining the Rebels in 2016. Both five-star recruits should be building blocks for the Ole Miss program for years to come.

The Rebels also kept one of Mississippi’s best offensive weapons in state. Four-star wide receiver and Oxford native DeKaylin Metcalf will join an already loaded receiving corps even after Laquon Treadwell departs for the NFL.

Another big in-state get for the Rebels was four-star TE Octavious Cooley. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Cooley is an excellent pass catcher, much like current Ole Miss TE Evan Engram, who just announced he will return for his senior season.

Ole Miss’ 2016 class also includes three running backs. None rates higher than Mississippi native four-star Justin Connor, who at 5-foot-10, 190 pounds, has 4.4 speed.

DEFENSE: B+ (8 TOTAL COMMITS)

Ole Miss really cleaned up in 2016 when it came to getting the best in-state recruits. Along with the long list of offensive players pledged to the Rebels, the prized defensive player in Hugh Freeze’s class next year is also from the “Hospitality State.” Four-star DT Benito Jones will join the Rebels’ fierce defensive front.

Freeze and his coaching staff also ventured into the Lone Star State to pick up four-star CB Jaylon Jones. They also got commitments from four-star DE Charles Wiley and four-star OLB David Luafatasaga.

RECRUITING NEEDS

Much like he did in 2013, although not necessarily to the same extent, Freeze has set Ole Miss up to be successful and stay competitive in the SEC for the next several years.

It’s hard to say a recruiting class really needs anything when it’s rated as high as the Rebels’ is for 2016 with 20 talented recruits at a variety of positions. But if we’re being picky, a few more linebackers never hurt any defense.

It’s important for Ole Miss to have good athletes in the middle of that “Landshark” defense that features only two linebackers. Luafatasaga is the highest-rated linebacker Freeze has ever recruited, but the Rebels have never landed a blue-chipper who can serve as a quarterback for the defense.