When Ole Miss Football Resumes: The Safeties


Like a lot of college rosters, there is no distinguishing between safeties and cornerbacks on the Ole Miss list.

All are simply defensive backs and are considered – somewhat – interchangeable, so writing a story about just the safeties and then just the corners will have some “ifs and buts.”

Right now there is a lot of guesswork going on about the safeties, but the best guess without the benefit of spring practice is eight candidates for two positions, plus there will be some defensive sets where a “Star” will be utilized in the 4-2-5 alignment.

For the purposes of this article, however, we are going to go with two safeties.

Without a spring analysis, based on last fall, the top returning safeties are senior Jon Haynes, who started most of the season, but did have a nagging hamstring issue that cost him some time, and sophomore A.J. Finley, who filled in for Haynes during his true freshman campaign at barely 18 years old. Finley started the season, in fact, at the ripe age of 17.

Haynes gained the starting slot last year due because he is a quick study and is a physical player. Finley got substantial playing time because he was rangy and instinctive with a nose for the ball. Both will be better this season due to the experience they got last year.

Sophomore Jay Stanley did some good things last year as well as a true frosh and is expected to be a top candidate if he doesn’t outgrow safety and have to move closer to the line of scrimmage. Jay is currently listed at 6-2, 223, which is closing in on the limit for a safety, traditionally.

Redshirt freshman Tavario Standifer is coming off a rehab-plagued first year – thus the redshirt. He has the same issue as Stanley – if he keeps growing, the crystal ball has a linebacker slot in his future. He’s currently 6-1, 214 with a bullet.

Sophomore Jakorey Hawkins backed up one safety slot last year but did not see much action and junior Ty Rocconi is a two-year letterwinner, solid special teams player and knowledgeable player who could help the secondary if the opportunity arises.

The wild cards at safety are Georgia transfer Otis Reese, a 6-3, 210-pound junior, who is trying to get immediately eligible via a special exemption waiver or if the NCAA ends up allowing a one-time transfer amendment, and senior Jaylon Jones, who has played a lot of safety in his career, but has also played a lot of corner.

Will Reese become immediately eligible? If so, the dynamic at safety changes instantly and dramatically, but as of right now, it appears most likely he will have to sit out the 2020 season.

If Jones has fully recovered form his season-ending knee injury from two seasons ago, he is likely to play corner again, but he could also flip the switch on safety if it is deemed he will help the team more there than at CB.

Also, with a new staff, there’s really no predicting what direction they may go in with some other DB personnel. For instance, Keidron Smith is now over 200 pounds and even though he has been playing cornerback his whole time at Ole Miss, the new coaches may determine he’s a natural safety.

As you can tell, this piece has a lot of conjecture, but the good thing is that there are enough quality, versatile athletes for the new coaches to be able to find four (two safeties and two corners) or five (two safeties, a Star and two corners) players who can ably man the safety slots. . . .

. . . . when Ole Miss football resumes.

SOURCE: Rounsaville, Chuck. "When Ole Miss Football Resumes: The Safeties." OMSpirit - 247Sport.com, 6 May 2020, https://247sports.com/college/ole-miss/Article/The-Top-4-recruiting-misses-in-Ole-Miss-football-history-146839935