#53

Joseph Harper

Senior linebacker for Southern Miss. 2025: 50 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss.

LB · Southern Miss · Sr. · #53

6′1″ · 235 lb · Baldwyn, MS

CFB Index 29 · #466 of 583 LBsHigh confidenceReturning to Southern Miss for 2026

Next upSat Sep 19 · 7 pm ETvs UConnM. M. Roberts StadiumUConn by 3

The numbers

tackles · 2025

1.5 TFL · 2 PBU

Best game: 7 tackles, vs Mississippi State

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 linebacker for Southern Miss. 2025: 50 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss.

His career, year by year

How he plays

Is steady in every phase without a signature trait.

Tackles: 79th percentile.

The full scouting read

Joseph Harper

LB · Southern Miss · Sr · #53

Is steady in every phase without a signature trait. Joseph Harper has played for two head coaches in two seasons at Southern Miss. The receipt: 9 tackles against South Alabama — Week 13, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2024Southern Miss1-11HC: Reed Stringer · Run-leaning, slow tempo

2025Southern Miss7-6HC: Charles Huff · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

29Below cohort / limited sample #466 of 583?

High confidenceAscending6 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: qb hurries (22nd percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Tackles#600 / 2975 · 79th pct

Passes defended#777 / 2975 · 67th pct

Solo tackles#1095 / 2975 · 62nd pct

Tackles for loss#1711 / 2975 · 39th pct

1.5

Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct

0.0

QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home8g	4.2	0.2	0.0	0.2
Road4g	4.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	4.5	0.2	0.0	0.3
Weeks 8+6g	3.8	0.1	0.0	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Blake Anderson

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Part-time starter

Tackle volume for the position in part-time-starter range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

29 · #466 of 583 LBs

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-Sun Belt

Based on 2025: #48 of 63 Sun Belt LBs

How the All-Sun Belt estimate is computed

15% estimated, 95% confidence interval 13–17%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Southern Miss	50	19	1.5	2	--	--
2024	Southern Miss	19	4	0.5	--	--	--
Career		69	23	2.0	2	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2025

W 38–20

vs Jackson State

1 PD · 2 SOLO · 3 TOT

With B. Braxton — 214 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · QBR 43.5 · 20 rush yds (10 car) · J. Murley — 39 AVG · 2 IN 20 · 42 LONG

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	L 17-34vs Mississippi State	7	0	0.0	—	1
Wk 2	W 38-20vs Jackson State	3	2	0.0	—	1
Wk 3	W 38-22vs App State	7	1	0.0	—	0
Wk 5	W 42-25vs Jacksonville State	4	2	0.0	—	0
Wk 7	W 38-35@ Georgia Southern	2	1	0.0	—	0
Wk 8	W 22-10@ Louisiana	4	3	0.0	—	0
Wk 9	W 49-21vs UL Monroe	2	2	0.0	—	0
Wk 11	W 27-21@ Arkansas State	1	1	0.0	—	0
Wk 12	L 14-41vs Texas State	5	2	0.5	—	0
Wk 13	L 35-42@ South Alabama	9	3	0.0	—	0	Season-high 9 tackles
Wk 14	L 18-28vs Troy	2	0	0.0	—	0
Bowl	L 16-27vs Western Kentucky	4	2	1.0	—	0
Total		50	19	1.5	—	2

The linebacker corps · Southern Miss

#53Joseph HarperLB · Sr.50 tackles · 2025
#42Melvin SpriggsLB · Jr.45 tackles · 2025
#13Mathis HaygoodLB · Jr.44 tackles · 2025
#33Avery SledgeLB · Sr.15 tackles · 2025
#32Peyton AndersonLB · Jr.1 tackle · 2025

9 more on the roster · Southern Miss team page

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology

Joseph Harper

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Part-time starter

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Balanced Linebacker

Players who play like Joseph Harper

The linebacker corps · Southern Miss