The Daily Bark: Guessing game continues with Mississippi State's secondary

Mississippi State vs Southern Miss is coming fast. Here’s our video breakdown of the Bulldogs’ secondary battles and depth chart predictions.

Mississippi State Bulldogs linebacker Zakari Tillman (16) reacts with teammates after an interception against the Texas A&M Aggies during the fourth quarter at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. | Matt Bush-Imagn Images

For those in the media who make predictions about games or projections about what a team’s starting lineup will look like have their work cutout for them with the season-opening game between Mississippi State and Southern Miss.

The Bulldogs have 60 new players on the roster for the 2025 season and Southern Miss has not only a revamped roster but an entirely new coaching staff.

ICYMI: Three takeaways from Mississippi State's second preseason scrimmage

Good luck trying to make an accurate prediction based on more than Mississippi State is an SEC school and Southern Miss isn’t.

But that’s our job, at least until August 30 when games actually begin to be played. Until then we’re just making educated guesses.

Which is exactly what today’s latest The Daily Bark episode is about – making educated guesses to predict Mississippi State’s starting secondary when an official depth chart is released next week.

Some of the predictions are obvious based on the great 2024 season they had (Isaac Smith) or the hype building around them (Kelley Jones), while others are based on comments from coach Jeff Lebby like this one:

There's been a lot of talk about the depth that you've added on the defensive line, but you added a lot of experience in terms of snaps on the back end as well with the safeties. Are you seeing kind of complimentary skill sets there as you're evaluating who's going to play what role?

Yeah, absolutely. A guy like (Jahron Manning) who's come in and played a bunch of ball, he's been very productive. He's going to have a great year for us and I'm excited about who he is and where he's at right now as he's fitting into it.

You’ll have to watch the video above to find out my predictions/guesses, but here’s a list of the contenders. They’re broken down by position and then alphabetically, but these are the contenders for a starting role:

Cornerbacks

• DeAgo Brumfield, Rs-Sr., 6-0, 190 lbs., RS
• Dwight Lewis III, Rs-Sr., 6-1, 195 lbs., TR
• Jett Jefferson, Jr. 6-1, 190 lbs., JC
• Kelley Jones, R-So., 6-4, 195 lbs., 1L
• Jayven Williams, Rs-Jr. 6-2, 185 lbs., TR

Safeties

• Stonka Burnside, So., 6-0, 200 lbs., 1L
• Tanner Johnson, Rs-Jr., 6-0, 185 lbs., 1L
• Brylan Lanier, Rs-Sr., 6-1, 190 lbs., 1L
• Jahron Manning, Sr., 5-10, 195 lbs., TR
• Tony Mitchell, Jr. 6-1, 215 lbs., TR
• Issac Smith, Jr., 6-0, 220 lbs., 2L
• Hunter Washington, Rs-Sr., 5-11, 200 lbs., 3L
• Tyler Woodard, Rs-Jr. 6-2, 210 lbs., RS