It may be brother versus brother when Alabama faces Mississippi State this season.

While his younger brother competes for the starting quarterback job in Starkville, Jared Mayden is off to a good start this spring in Tuscaloosa as he tries to win the starting safety job next to Xavier McKinney.

After serving as the Crimson Tide’s sixth defensive back the final nine games of last season, the senior has gotten most of the first-team reps this spring at the safety spot previously occupied by Deionte Thompson, including during the team’s first spring scrimmage last Saturday.

“Jared has really done a nice job for us,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “He really showed up well in the scrimmage. He's played really well. Did a good job of tackling. Played with more toughness in the game. He's been pretty consistent. I think he has a pretty good understanding of what is expected of him. I've been very encouraged with his progress and very happy with his performance so far.”

One of Alabama’s fastest players, the 6-foot, 200-pound Mayden was timed in the 4.4s in the 40-yard dash during the Tide’s junior pro day in March.

After initially playing cornerback at Alabama, Mayden moved to safety last year and moved into that sixth defensive back role in October after the Tide lost Trevon Diggs to a season-ending injury.

Now, he’s in position to be an even bigger part of the defense as a senior.

While fellow senior Shyheim Carter also got some first-team reps at that safety spot during the scrimmage last weekend, word is that Carter was primarily the sixth defensive back and that Mayden got most of those first-team reps at that safety spot.

“He’s done a great job in communicating and doing his job and making sure he’s in the right place at the right time,” McKinney said of Mayden. “He’s doing a great job and I’m trying to keep him, just like he’s trying to keep me, at that top level so we can get better as the year goes on.”

Mayden posted 14 tackles, a sack and two pass breakups in those nine games after taking over as the sixth DB last year. He’s still looking for that first career interception, though.

Maybe he’ll get it versus his brother.

“He’s an older guy, so he already knows how things work around here,” McKinney said. “He knows the plays. So there’s not really much you can’t do with him. He knows everything. He’s just out there just playing ball.”

Matt Zenitz is an Alabama and Auburn reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mzenitz.