Mizzou football: Safeties are a talented group for Tigers

Mizzou football sees enough talent in its safety position to start three players this year.

During the spring, the Mizzou football coaching staff decided to mold its defense differently.

The Tigers want to run a 4-2-5 defense, meaning four down linemen, two linebackers and five players in the secondary. The linebackers, which ran three bodies in basic packages last season, would be affected. But also would the back part of the defense. There are going to be three safeties on the field this season for Mizzou.

It was pretty obvious from the beginning why Missouri was going to change up its defense. The Tigers wanted to get the most speed and athleticism as possible on the field. The 4-2-5 defense will allow that. It also gives the Tigers a hybrid player on the field, just as safety Ronnell Perkins was last year.

The senior played that role as a linebacker/safety while coming off the bench. He started two of the final three games for the Tigers and finished the year with 18 tackles.

According to the most recent depth chart, Perkins is battling for the starting spot at safety with fellow senior Khalil Oliver.

The defensive back transferred from Oregon last season and made 40 tackles with five starts while playing in all 13 games.

Oliver played the deep safety role in 2018, but now that the spots are co-op’d, the two are battling for playing time on the field.

The boundary safety will line up on the shorter side of the field where the ball is snapped. Tyree Gillespie will start at that position. Gillespie’s new position will allow him to stop the run more this season.

He spoke about his new role in camp.

Gillespie is a solid tackler, recording 42 tackles in the final eight games of the season for Mizzou.

Behind Gillespie is freshman Jalani Williams, who is the only true freshman on the two-deep roster.

Williams was an ESPN Top 300 prospect and chose to play for his home state after turning down several other SEC offers.

The free safety spot will go to Joshuah Bledsoe. The junior had 28 tackles on the team last year. Bledsoe’s backup will be Jordan Ulmer, who has had an interesting career thus far for the Tigers.

Ulmer was the first true freshman to start for Mizzou in almost 20 years, but finished his freshman campaign seeing the field in just eight games. Last year, he played in 10 games.

The coaches have said his career has been up and down, but also said this year’s camp he’s been second to none and will be an asset to this year’s team.

Fellow freshman Martez Manuel is the last of the safeties. The Columbia kid likely will redshirt the season.

He was a three-star recruit and has a bright future playing in his hometown.