← the board · drewhoover.com · 2024–2026
Southern Miss's best defenders since 2024
Chris Jones leads with 179 tackles in 22 games at Southern Miss; Mike Montgomery had 105.
Every defender with 5 or more games at Southern Miss since 2024, ranked by tackles; the lines are each player's tackles game by game, the top 8 drawn. A link opens the player's page, where he has one, or his row on the board.
93 defenders with 5+ games at Southern Misstackles
| # | player | seasons | games | tackles | sacks | tackles for loss | interceptions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Jones | 2024–2025 | 22 | 179 | 4.5 | 16 | 2 |
| 2 | Mike Montgomery | 2025 | 12 | 105 | 3 | 8 | 2 |
| 3 | Mathis Haygood | 2025–2026 | 19 | 99 | 1.5 | 12 | 1 |
| 4 | Corey Myrick | 2025 | 13 | 91 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| 5 | Ian Foster | 2025 | 13 | 76 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
| 6 | Tre Pinkney | 2024 | 12 | 74 | 0.5 | 6 | 0 |
| 7 | Jameer Lewis | 2024–2026 | 27 | 73 | 8 | 16 | 0 |
| 8 | J'Mond Tapp | 2025 | 13 | 70 | 7.5 | 14 | 0 |
| 9 | Joseph Harper | 2024–2025 | 17 | 69 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 10 | Josh Moten | 2025 | 13 | 60 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 11 | Michael Robinson III | 2026 | 6 | 51 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 12 | Ahmere Foster | 2025 | 13 | 47 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 13 | Desmyn Baker | 2024 | 11 | 42 | 1.5 | 3 | 0 |
| 14 | Avery Sledge | 2024–2026 | 20 | 40 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 15 | Garrick Ponder | 2025 | 12 | 37 | 3.5 | 14 | 0 |
| 16 | Landon Sylvie | 2026 | 6 | 37 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 17 | Wesley Edison | 2026 | 6 | 37 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 18 | Will James | 2024 | 11 | 35 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 19 | Josh Battle | 2025 | 8 | 33 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 20 | Anthony Richard Jr. | 2025 | 13 | 31 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 21 | Braxton Myers | 2024 | 11 | 31 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| 22 | Elijah Sabbatini | 2024 | 11 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 23 | Jaden McKinney | 2025 | 10 | 27 | 0.5 | 3 | 0 |
| 24 | Dylan King | 2025 | 9 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Isaiah Gibson Sr. | 2025 | 10 | 26 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 26 | Kameron Cyprien | 2026 | 6 | 25 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| 27 | Ryan Johnson | 2024 | 12 | 23 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| 28 | JJ Hawkins | 2025 | 10 | 21 | 3 | 6 | 1 |
| 29 | Jabari Ishmael | 2025 | 7 | 21 | 0.5 | 3 | 0 |
| 30 | Jonathan Pennix | 2025 | 11 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 31 | Kobi Albert | 2026 | 6 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 32 | Malakai Murphy | 2025–2026 | 10 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | Champ Lewis | 2026 | 6 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | JR Stegall | 2026 | 6 | 17 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 35 | Nasim Cairo | 2026 | 6 | 17 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 36 | Mason Clinton | 2025 | 7 | 16 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 37 | Jyaire Brown | 2026 | 6 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 38 | Jordan L. Johnson | 2024 | 5 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | Caleb Moore | 2024 | 9 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | MaLik Caswell | 2025–2026 | 8 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 41 | Ramon Pernas | 2026 | 5 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 42 | Najae Hallenbeck | 2025 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 | Brodarius Lewis | 2022–2025 | 33 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 44 | Camron Harrell | 2020–2022 | 24 | — | — | — | 2 |
| 45 | Natrone Brooks | 2020–2022 | 21 | — | — | — | 4 |
| 46 | Jalil Clemons | 2022–2024 | 19 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 47 | Jay Jones | 2021–2024 | 19 | — | — | — | 2 |
| 48 | Jay Stanley | 2021–2023 | 18 | — | — | — | 10 |
| 49 | Dylan Lawrence | 2023–2024 | 17 | — | — | — | 2 |
| 50 | Ja'Len Sims | 2023–2024 | 17 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 51 | Jalen Williams | 2022–2024 | 17 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 52 | Micheal Caraway Jr. | 2022–2024 | 17 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 53 | Curtis Mikell | 2014–2017 | 15 | — | — | — | 3 |
| 54 | Brendan Toles | 2022–2025 | 14 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 55 | Demeco Roland | 2023–2024 | 14 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 56 | Kristin Booth | 2021–2024 | 14 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 57 | Kolbe Cage | 2023–2024 | 13 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 58 | TQ Newsome | 2020–2023 | 13 | — | — | — | 1 |
| 59 | Emmanuel Johnson | 2011–2014 | 12 | — | — | — | 1 |
| 60 | Ques McNeal | 2023–2024 | 12 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 61 | Hayes Maples | 2019–2023 | 11 | — | — | — | 1 |
| 62 | Malik Shorts | 2019–2022 | 11 | — | — | — | 7 |
| 63 | Swayze Bozeman | 2019–2023 | 11 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 64 | D'Nerius Antoine | 2015–2016 | 10 | — | — | — | 2 |
| 65 | Eric Thomas Jr. | 2023–2025 | 10 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 66 | Janari Dean | 2022 | 10 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 67 | Anthony Alford | 2012 | 9 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 68 | Cameron Knox | 2023–2024 | 9 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 69 | Ky'el Hemby | 2018–2020 | 9 | — | — | — | 9 |
| 70 | Quentin Bivens | 2022–2023 | 9 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 71 | Rachuan Mitchell | 2017–2021 | 9 | — | — | — | 5 |
| 72 | Averie Habas | 2021–2023 | 8 | — | — | — | 1 |
| 73 | Cornell Armstrong | 2015–2017 | 8 | — | — | — | 5 |
| 74 | Eric Scott Jr. | 2020–2022 | 8 | — | — | — | 5 |
| 75 | Josh Carr Jr. | 2021–2023 | 8 | — | — | — | 1 |
| 76 | Kalan Reed | 2012–2015 | 8 | — | — | — | 8 |
| 77 | MJ Daniels | 2023 | 8 | — | — | — | 3 |
| 78 | Ty Williams | 2018–2019 | 8 | — | — | — | 3 |
| 79 | Dylan Bradley | 2013–2016 | 7 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 80 | Josh Ratcliff | 2021–2023 | 7 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 81 | Picasso Nelson | 2014–2018 | 7 | — | — | — | 5 |
| 82 | Santrell Latham | 2019–2022 | 7 | — | — | — | 1 |
| 83 | Tarvarius Moore | 2016–2017 | 7 | — | — | — | 5 |
| 84 | Armondous Cooley | 2022–2024 | 6 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 85 | Darian Yancey | 2015–2018 | 6 | — | — | — | 1 |
| 86 | DQ Thomas | 2018–2019 | 6 | — | — | — | 3 |
| 87 | Xavier Thigpen | 2015–2017 | 6 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 88 | Devin Thomas | 2019–2021 | 5 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 89 | Devonta Foster | 2015–2016 | 5 | — | — | — | 3 |
| 90 | Kelsey Douglas | 2013–2017 | 5 | — | — | — | 3 |
| 91 | Orlandus McLaurin | 2023 | 5 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 92 | Paxton Schrimsher | 2016–2018 | 5 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 93 | Racheem Boothe | 2017–2019 | 5 | — | — | — | 0 |
Also at Southern Miss: quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, kickers, punters. Every school and conference: schools, conferences. The games are ESPN's box scores since 2004 (the Method says where they fall short); a position is the roster's, else read off the box score, so a tight end from before 2014 may be listed with the wide receivers.