All three starting safeties returning to their roles maintain a unique trait to differentiate themselves.
Redshirt senior MJ Hampton is the hard-hitting tackler of the bunch while redshirt sophomore Que Reid has a knack for making a play on the ball. Sixth-year senior Wayne Davis’ experience, with 37 career starts – the most on James Madison’s roster – already to his name, gives him an edge.
The trio provides JMU a great foundation at the position, and the transfer safeties the Dukes have recruited since the spring should prevent any worries pertaining to depth there.
“We brought some defensive backs in to provide some competition,” JMU coach Curt Cignetti said. “We didn’t have very good competition last spring because of our numbers on defense and some of our injuries, so we just felt like we needed some more competition. Competition makes everybody better.”
Returning Starters: Sixth-year senior Wayne Davis, r-senior MJ Hampton, r-sophomore Que Reid
Other Returners On Roster: r-junior Sam Kidd, r-sophomore Chris Chukwuneke, r-sophomore Francis Meehan, r-freshman Jebril Murray, r-freshman Jordan White
Newcomers: r-senior Jalen Phelps (Eastern Michigan), r-sophomore Josh Sarratt (VMI), freshman Kye Holmes, freshman Messiah Russell, freshman Jahquil Batts
Departures: r-junior Michael Johnson
Position Coach: Eddie Whitley (second season, rovers), Marcus Hall-Oliver (second season, safeties)
Synopsis: Throughout the spring, Hampton showed why he was a great fit at rover – the program’s hybrid safety-linebacker spot – while racking up 42 tackles, the third most on the team. His 6.5 tackles for loss were second most on the roster only to standout defensive lineman Mike Greene. Hampton’s two forced fumbles were tied for a team best, too.
And that production came in his first season as a starter after platooning as a free safety in 2019. Having made the move from free safety to rover successfully last season, he should only be able to build off of what he’s already accomplished.
Reid had two interceptions and two pass breakups from his free safety position in the spring, and in the past Cignetti has said Reid usually finds a way to impact the game. He performed well in the spring postseason, also, racking up a season-high seven tackles against VMI in the first round of the playoffs before collecting six tackles in the quarterfinals against North Dakota and again in the semifinals at Sam Houston.
Davis has contributed ever since arriving at JMU from Ohio State, moving with ease from playing rover (or what the program used to call spur) in his first two campaigns with the Dukes to strong safety last season. He can be counted on, and as long he stays healthy and JMU plays into the postseason Davis will surpass 50 career starts with the Dukes to set a new school record.
Beyond those three, it’ll be up to safeties coach Marcus Hall-Oliver and rovers coach Eddie Whitley to see who else can be a factor for JMU this fall. During the short offseason, Hall-Oliver moved from defensive tackles coach to safeties coach and Whitley from safeties coach to rovers coach.
Redshirt junior Sam Kidd was projected to help JMU at safety in the spring, but suffered a season-ending injury only one game into the campaign. If he can pick up where he left off before the injury, he’d probably be the primary backup to Reid.
Eastern Michigan transfer Jalen Phelps and VMI transfer Josh Sarratt bring experience with them to Harrisonburg. After announcing his decision to commit to JMU, Sarratt said he could play safety or rover for JMU after making 11 starts in the secondary for the Keydets. Phelps made nine starts for Eastern Michigan.
Then there’s redshirt sophomore Chris Chukwuneke, who did appear in all eight games this past spring. Most of those reps came on special teams, but against Richmond, Chukwuneke had a pass breakup.
