#14

Kapena Gushiken

Senior safety for Ole Miss. 2025: 1 interception, 5 pass breakups, 55 tackles.

S · Ole Miss · Sr. · #14

6′0″ · 185 lb · Pukalani, HI

CFB Index 49 · #279 of 544 safetiesMedium confidenceReturning to Ole Miss for 2026

The numbers

interception · 2025

5 PBU · 55 tackles · 0.5 TFL

Best game: 1 INT, 3 tackles, vs Miami

The play that turned itSwung Washington State from 23% to 67% to win.Washington State at UCLA · 25-17

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 safety for Ole Miss. 2025: 1 interception, 5 pass breakups, 55 tackles.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Washington State in 2023.
Transferred from Washington State to Ole Miss in 2025.

His career, year by year

How he plays

Moves between deep coverage and the slot.

Passes defended: 91st percentile.

The full scouting read

Kapena Gushiken

S · Ole Miss · Sr · #14

Moves between deep coverage and the slot. Across three seasons and two programs, three head coaches: Jake Dickert, Pete Kaligis and Lane Kiffin. The receipt on tape: 9 tackles against Mississippi State, Week 14, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2023Washington State5-7HC: Jake Dickert · Pass-leaning

2024Washington State8-5HC: Pete Kaligis · Run-leaning

2025Ole Miss13-2HC: Lane Kiffin · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

49Rotational starter #279 of 544?

Medium confidence8 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: passes defended (91st percentile). Strength: solo tackles (90th percentile). Concern: tackles for loss (18th percentile).

Box-score production (8)

Passes defended#218 / 2975 · 91st pct

Solo tackles#271 / 2975 · 90th pct

Tackles#484 / 2975 · 83rd pct

QB hurries#1007 / 2975 · 55th pct

Forced fumbles#36 / 687 · 47th pct

Interceptions#304 / 817 · 31st pct

Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct

0.0

Tackles for loss#2332 / 2975 · 18th pct

0.5

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 · 15 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home10g	2.7	0.1	0.0	0.3
Road5g	5.6	0.0	0.0	0.4

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-79g	3.1	0.1	0.0	0.3
Weeks 8+6g	4.5	0.0	0.0	0.3

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Pete Golding

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

49 · #279 of 544 safeties

Three-star recruit. Now #279 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-SEC

Based on 2025: #14 of 28 SEC Ss

How the All-SEC estimate is computed

22% estimated, 95% confidence interval 19–25%. 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	Ole Miss	55	38	0.5	0.0	5	1	--
2024	Washington State	48	33	3.0	0.0	6	2	--
2023	Washington State	36	16	1.5	1.0	5	1	--
Career		139	87	5.0	1.0	16	4	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 18 · 2025

W 39–34

at Georgia

2 TOT · 1 SOLO

Edged out Georgia on the road in a shootout.

With T. Chambliss — 362 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · QBR 90.6 · 14 rush yds (4 car) · O. Bird — 48 AVG · 1 IN 20 · 51 LONG

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 15 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 63-7vs Georgia State	1	0	0.5	—	1
Wk 2	W 30-23@ Kentucky	5	5	0.0	—	1
Wk 3	W 41-35vs Arkansas	6	5	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	W 45-10vs Tulane	2	1	0.0	—	0
Wk 5	W 24-19vs LSU	2	1	0.0	—	0
Wk 7	W 24-21vs Washington State	3	2	0.0	—	0
Wk 8	L 35-43@ Georgia	6	4	0.0	—	0
Wk 9	W 34-26@ Oklahoma	6	5	0.0	—	1
Wk 10	W 30-14vs South Carolina	2	2	0.0	—	0
Wk 11	W 49-0vs The Citadel	2	2	0.0	—	1
Wk 12	W 34-24vs Florida	2	2	0.0	—	0
Wk 14	W 38-19@ Mississippi State	9	2	0.0	—	0	Season-high 9 tackles
Bowl	W 41-10vs Tulane	4	4	0.0	—	1
Bowl	W 39-34@ Georgia	2	1	0.0	—	0
Bowl	L 27-31vs Miami	3	2	0.0	1	0
Total		55	38	0.5	1	5

How he plays

Play style

Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

15 games

55Tackles

38Solo

0.5TFL

0Sacks

5Pass def.

1INT

55 tackles. 5 passes defended. 1 interceptions. 0.5 TFL.

Week 11 PD
Week 11 PD
Week 11 INT
Week 21 PD
Week 91 PD
Week 111 PD

Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.

2026 Outlook

Ole Miss

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Safety · Ole Miss

Returning around him

2 Ole Miss players drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: +1 net (28 in / 27 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

Ole Miss · Last season: 13-2 (AP #6) · Talent rank #14 · 2026 recruiting class #22

DNA match

Player DNA

Hybrid Nickel

Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Elliott Davison’s 2024 season.

Elliott Davison

85%match

UTSA · 2024

Jordan Huff

Georgia State · 2025

84%

Keondre Swoopes

UAB · 2022

All-Conference USA

82%

Javon Scruggs

Liberty · 2021

81%

Caleb Spann

Central Michigan · 2025

80%

Matches Elliott on

Tackle volume

TFL rate

PD rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Renardo Green's junior season at Florida State (2022).

Renardo Green

88%match

Florida State · 2022

All-ACCNFL Rd 2 · Pk 32

Christian Roland-Wallace

Arizona · 2022

88%

Teagan Wilk

East Carolina · 2022

88%

Keondre Swoopes

UAB · 2022

All-Conference USA

87%

Elijah Jackson

Washington · 2023

86%

Matches Renardo on

Class year

Weight

Tackle volume

Player DNA

Players who play like Kapena Gushiken

Jordan Huff

Georgia State · 2025

84%

Myles Norwood

Ball State · 2024

83%

Ques McNeal

Southern Miss · 2024

83%

Latrell McCutchin

Houston · 2025

80%

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

Kapena Gushiken

202312 games

202515 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Part-time starter

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Hybrid Nickel

Players who play like Kapena Gushiken