Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 1 game
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 49-3vs Alcorn State | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 1 tackles |
| Total | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 |
#19
Malakai Murphy
Sophomore cornerback on Southern Miss's 2026 roster.
6′1″ · 195 lb · Starke, FL · Bradford HS
Returning to Southern Miss for 2026
The story
2 cornerback on Southern Miss's 2026 roster.
- Signed with Colorado in 2024.
- Transferred from Colorado to Southern Miss in 2025.
Malakai Murphy
Malakai Murphy has played for two head coaches in two seasons at Southern Miss. The receipt on tape: 1 tackles against Alcorn State, Week 1, 2026.
1 TACKLES · 0 SACKS
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
- season totals
- head-coach lineage
- game log
His career
2024
- Signed with Coloradoout of Bradford
20255 games
- Entered the portal
Career arc
HS
Recruit
—
CFB
College
Southern Miss
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Coaching lineage · 2025–2026
2 coaches2025
Southern Miss
Coaching transition mid-career: Charles Huff → Blake Anderson. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
2026 snapshot
Season context · Team result + system
2025Southern Miss7-6HC: Charles Huff · Balanced
2026Southern Miss1-1HC: Blake Anderson · Run-leaning, fast tempo
Where this defender ranks vs the field
Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort
Concern: tackles (0th percentile).
Box-score production (6)
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 splits
Through 1 game: 1.0 TKL/g, 0.0 TFL/g, 0.0 SACK/g, 0.0 PD/g — splits start at 3 games.
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
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 · 2026
Backup
On the two-deep and pushing for snaps.
Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Career stats
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Southern Miss | 1 | -- | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2025 | Southern Miss | 5 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 6 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
Signature game
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2026
W 49–3
vs Alcorn State
1 TOT
Dominant 46-point win at home against Alcorn State.
With M. Johnson — 13 rush yds (1 car) · E. Hampton — 180 yds · 1 TD · 1 INT · 15 rush yds (3 car)
Game log
How he plays
2026 Outlook
Southern Miss
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Cornerback · Southern Miss
Returning around him
- Transfer portal: +10 net (38 in / 28 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Southern Miss · Last season: 7-6 · Talent rank #94 · 2026 recruiting class #108
Background
2025 (R-Fr.): Appeared in all 13 games…Used mostly on special teams…Collected five total tackles (two solo). 2024 (Freshman, Colorado): Redshirted. High School: Played for head coach Jamie Rodgers at Bradford High School in Florida. In his senior season he tallied 30 total tackles and four pass d...
The secondary · Southern Miss
- #1Josh Moten61 tackles · 2025
- #24Josh Battle34 tackles · 2025
- #1Champ Lewis16 tackles · 2025
- #3Jyaire Brown7 tackles · 2025
- #19Malakai Murphy5 tackles · 2025
24 more on the roster · Southern Miss team page
Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology