What does USM’s new defensive coordinator have to work with? Here’s the depth chart.
Southern Miss built real momentum in the 2022 season and could be just a couple pieces away from becoming a competitor for the Sun Belt West crown.
Its defensive improvement in 2021 and disruptive play last season landed former defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong a role within Alabama’s staff.
Head coach Will Hall has turned the keys of the defense over to safeties coach Dan O’Brien in a pivotal moment of the Golden Eagles’ rebuild.
Southern Miss greatly benefited from its defense during last season’s 7-6 run, but significant roster turnover on that side of the ball means another off-season of realigning and finding new stars to fill the gaps.
Here’s what O’Brien has to work with in the “Nasty Bunch” cupboard.
Defensive backs
Projected starters: Jay Stanley (S), Dylan Lawrence/MJ Daniels (S), Ques McNeal (CB), Micheal Caraway (CB)
Other names to watch: Jay Jones (S), Brendan Toles (CB), Markel McLaurin (CB)
The turnover on the backend of the defense is notable, but O’Brien knows this group better than any other. He’s personally developed Stanley in recent years and has molded him into the Sun Belt’s No. 2 safety with a Pro Football Focus grade of 85.1.
Where O’Brien goes around Stanley will come down to who steps up to the plate during spring and fall. Ole Miss transfer Daniels and Mississippi State transfer Lawrence figure to be leading candidates for the opening at strong safety left by Malik Shorts.
Both are experienced special teamers who have lined up in several positions around the defensive box at their last stops.
Both corner back positions are up for grabs with the departures of Eric Scott and Natrone Brooks and a pair of former junior college stars could be in line to take over.
Caraway, who played over 200 snaps at corner for USM last season, has the most post-high school experience at outside corner on the roster while incoming JUCO transfer McNeal could have the inside track at taking the corner spot opposite Caraway.
This is fairly thin group heading into 2023, with three starters and four total major contributors to replace.
Linebackers
Projected starters: Swayze Bozeman, Averie Habas, Hayes Maples, Josh Carr, Camron Harrell (Star)
Other names to watch: Jalil Clemons, Kolbe Cage, T.Q. Newsome, Ja’Len Sims, Arian Gregory, Drew Horton
Santrell Latham and Daylen Gill leave loads of production to replace in the middle of the defense, but the talent remains stocked at linebacker.
Bozeman and Maples will both return for another season after recovering from injuries and join Averie Habas to form a trio of highly skilled and experienced backers. The battle-tested and versatile Harrell should be the favorite to reprise his role as the starter at the safety-hybird Star position, as well.
Josh Carr, who was lost to injury early in the season, is the big X-factor for this group. An All-Preseason Sun Belt selection at Jack, Carr has the build to slot in on either edge.
Elder statesman Newsome is back for another season and is a go-to run-stuffer at the inside linebacker positions who adds quality depth to O’Brien’s front seven.
A 12th position was created by the staff last season, a Sam linebacker, specifically for Dominic Quewon to wreak havoc as a pass-rusher. With Quewon moving on, it remains to be seen who will get the first looks at the position.
A potential name to watch for in that Sam role may be Habas’. There’s plenty of depth at linebacker and the Sam enters the game strictly on pass-rush downs. Habas logged 460 snaps on the Jack edge in ‘22 and has started at defensive end on multiple occasions in his career.
Carr will also be a strong contender to take over pass-rushing duties.
Clemons is another edge presence to watch for as a depth piece at either the Jack or Sam positions.
Defensive line
Projected starters: Kristin Booth, Quentin Bivens, Jalen Williams
Other names to watch: Brodarius Lewis, Eric Thomas, Josh Ratcliff, Armondous Cooley
The closer to the line of scrimmage you get, the nastier this defense becomes. The defensive line saw a total reload ahead of the ‘22 season and remains intact with even more experience and more talent.
Three returning starters in Booth, Bivens and Williams give the Golden Eagles a lot of continuity up front. Throw in the depth behind these three and you get what could shape up to be one of the Sun Belt’s top defensive line.
Josh Ratcliff, who started three games and played over 400 snaps in ‘22, is the highest-graded lineman on the team and was the league’s No. 4 interior defender with an 81.5 PFF grade.
Cooley fills out a deep group of interior lineman while Arkansas transfer Thomas adds instant depth to the defensive ends.
No Sun Belt team going back to at least 2009 had as many sacks as USM’s 44 in ‘22 and the defensive line was a big reason why. The unit produced 15.5 sacks last season and every one of them is returning in ‘23.
Spring practice dates haven’t been announced yet, but considering Hall’s propensity for early starts, the new-look defense will likely be hitting the field sooner rather than later.
This story was originally published January 24, 2023 at 9:27 AM.
