With Ball State football season around the corner, we're breaking down the roster by position. Here's a look at the Cardinals' safeties and snipers:
Ball State football prioritized defensive backs in the transfer portal, and most of the additions will play safety or sniper in the Cardinals' defense.
Ball State will kick off its season on Saturday, Aug. 30, with an in-state road game at Purdue. Ball State is coming off a 3-9 season and hasn't qualified for a bowl game since 2021, but new head coach Mike Uremovich will look to lead a quick turnaround.
With the season less than two weeks away, we're breaking down the Cardinals' roster position by position. Here's our breakdown of the Ball State football safeties and snipers:
Transfer additions look impactful at safety
Of the seven defensive backs Ball State added in the transfer portal, five of them will play safety or sniper. The Cardinals prioritized defensive backs this offseason as they look to rebuild a pass defense that struggled mightily in 2024.
The safeties might be the least experienced position group on the Ball State roster with only one senior and a handful of sophomores and freshmen. However, they have all been in Muncie since the winter — even true freshmen Tobi Adowoyin and Kameron Chamble, who both enrolled early — which has allowed them to develop a nice rapport over the last eight months.
"I think there's several guys that are ready to play," safeties coach Rory Mannering said. "We do have a lot of new faces, but everyone has been here since January, so it feels like we have some veteran guys, even though we don't have a ton of experience. We're excited to see who steps up."
Ball State's most experienced safety is redshirt senior Michael Gravely Jr. Gravely began his college career at Michigan State before spending a year at the College of DuPage in 2023. Last season, Gravely joined the Mid-American Conference with Western Michigan and appeared in the Broncos' last six games. Now, he joins Ball State for his final season of eligibility as a senior leader at safety.
"Mike's had a great camp," Mannering said. "He's really spent a lot of time learning the scheme so he can play fast, where he can anticipate, but he's had a great camp. I'm excited to see what he's able to do."
The Cardinals also brought in redshirt freshman Deondre Shepherd from Coastal Carolina and redshirt sophomore Avery Stuart from Kentucky to compete for reps at safety. Shepherd appeared in one game for the Chanticleers last season and has displayed impressive ball skills throughout training camp with a few interceptions against Kiael Kelly and the first-team offense. Stuart, meanwhile, was a four-star recruit coming out of high school and has some SEC experience under his belt after beginning his career in Lexington.
One returning player to keep an eye on is redshirt sophomore Jahmad Harmon, who transferred to Ball State after redshirting at Kent State and earned playing time for the Cardinals as a redshirt freshman. He missed all of 2024 after suffering a preseason injury but has drawn first-team reps in training camp and could be an under-the-radar breakout candidate. Ball State also returns redshirt sophomores Cole Earlewine and DJ Fields, who both saw time on special teams last season.
Sniper position returns to Ball State's defense
With defensive coordinator Jeff Knowles sticking around as part of Uremovich's staff, Ball State will continue to implement the sniper position on defense. The sniper is a hybrid linebacker and defensive back role that gives the Cardinals more athleticism and flexibility in coverage. Ball State also has a dedicated snipers coach this year in Jalen Moss, who has seen his small position group of six players make strides so far.
"A lot of guys have been doing really well," Moss said. "We've got a lot of competition going and I think we're going to play multiple guys in our room. I wouldn't say necessarily that one guy's come in as the top dog so far, but we've got a lot of guys in a room that are going to be able to play here."
The sniper group has a bit more experience than the safeties with a pair of redshirt seniors in the fold. Zavier Simpson has had a unique journey to the position after starting his career as a wide receiver at Wake Forest before converting to linebacker, and eventually defensive back, at Ball State. Meanwhile, Virginia Union transfer Muheem McCargo is a sixth-year player who has a history with the coaching staff, as Knowles recruited him to Temple when McCargo was coming out of high school and Knowles was the defensive coordinator there.
"Muheem's been awesome, you can definitely tell he's a vet," Moss said. "I always joke with him a lot of times, like 'you're a grandpa.' He's been around the game a long time... he kind of brings a different aspect of physicality."
The Cardinals added another experienced sniper in redshirt junior Ashton Whitner, who spent his first three seasons at Old Dominion. Whitner drew three starts for the Monarchs last season and posted 26 tackles over their last six games. Although Simpson is a fifth-year player, Whitner and McCargo bring the most experience to the sniper spot as career defensive backs.
Ball State also has three freshmen snipers in redshirt freshmen Russell Peterson and Micah Lillard, as well as true freshman Gabe Aramboles. All three were in-state high school recruits with Peterson from Avon, Lillard from Lafayette Jefferson and Aramboles from Westfield.
Contact Cade Hampton via email at [email protected] or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @CadeHamp10.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Ball State football position preview: Meet the safeties and snipers
Category: General Sports
