Take a good, long look at the safeties on Ball State's depth chart, and the names may start to blur together.
Brian Jones, Chris Pauling, Jarrett Swaby and J.C. Wade. None of those names stand out the way former Ball State safeties Sean Baker and Joshua Howard did.
Maybe that's a frightening reality for Ball State fans, especially when the team's defense gave up a Mid-American Conference worst 284 passing yards per game last season. Now with so many inexperienced faces in the secondary, it's conceivable that the team's pass defense could be even worse in 2012.
Even though Jones is the only safety on the roster who has started a game, don't count coach Pete Lembo as someone who's worried.
"I think even though we're young and not really tested there, we've got some guys who have played OK for us during spring ball and during
preseason," Lembo said.
Pauling and Jones are listed as the starters at free safety and strong safety, respectively, in the team's latest depth chart released on Friday.
Swaby was added as a graduate student this offseason after finishing as an undergraduate at Central Florida in three seasons. And Wade had limited playing time in 2011 after redshirting in 2010.
Each of the four players has managed to impress Lembo in some way over the last several months. Pauling may have made the best impression.
After graduating early from high school, Pauling joined Ball State football in spring practices, unlike other true freshmen. It gave him a chance to stand out early, similar to sophomore running back Jahwan Edwards in 2011, who also participated in spring practices as a freshman.
"It almost came so naturally to [Pauling]," Lembo said. "He's just got a presence about him, a maturity about him, a confidence about him, and by the time spring ball [was] over, he's running with the ones at safety."
Swaby hasn't been with the team for more than a few months, but he's already asserted himself as Pauling's backup. And that title might not even keep him on the sidelines much, even if Pauling is in the game.
"Pauling is a starter, but I really feel like it's probably going to be a three-headed monster there with Swaby and Jones," Lembo said.
If that's the case, Swaby's biggest adjustment might be just fitting in with his new teammates.
"He's a football savvy kid," Lembo said. "Quiet kid, but sometimes when you're a grad student, you're a new guy on the block, [and] it's not all bad being a quiet guy. He communicates well when he needs to. In a good way, it's increased the competition back there."
Jones, meanwhile, has been sidelined for a portion of the preseason with a pulled hamstring. His injury has given Wade a chance to show he deserves a bigger role than he's had in the past.
Lembo said Wade has "really improved" and is "a solid backup guy."
It will likely take more than a season for Ball State's young group of safeties to become big-name players with fans. But in a few years, the next Sean Baker or Joshua Howard could always emerge from the group.
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