Missouri upped the ante for its recruiting class by getting one of the best safeties in the country to play his final year of college ball in Columbia.
The Missouri Tigers further beefed up their secondary for 2025 with the addition of well-traveled safety Jalen Catalon over the weekend. Catalon, a veteran ballhawk who previously played for Arkansas, Texas, and UNLV, will play his final season of college football in Columbia, a fact that must surely smart a fanbase to the south.
This was a great win for Eli Drinkwitz. His program was in need of quality safety play, and Catalon is the third transfer addition to the room. The Tigers now return two starters (Marvin Burks and Daylan Carnell), bring in a proven Power conference player (Mose Phillips), snag a G5 promotion with potential (Santana Banner), and now add one of the best players in the country at the position.
Catalon has been on All-America teams twice, as a breakout freshman at Arkansas in 2020, and as a dominant force at UNLV in 2024. In between he was sidelined by shoulder surgeries in Fayetteville, and nagging injuries in Austin. He was a Jim Thorpe Award semifinalist twice, and has routinely placed on Dean’s Lists/SEC Honor Roll lists.
Under Eli Drinkwitz, Mizzou has shown a tendency to play a deep bench on defense. This strategy could help keep Catalon fresher and intact as he returns to the SEC grind. That will in turn give him more opportunities to make explosive, game-changing plays like this, one of his ten career interceptions:
Jalon Daniels recreating this moment with Jalen Catalon inside of Faurot this year will be cinema. September 6th can’t come soon enough pic.twitter.com/opt3cx6WPQ
— #19 Dorial Green-Burden III (@DorialBurden) January 6, 2025
Where He Fits: There are 442 available snaps at “Free Safety” according to PFF’s alignment charting. 287 of them last year went to Joseph Charleston, and 155 to Tre’Vez Johnson. Marvin Burks also played 279 snaps in this role, but often struggled with eye discipline and coverage in general.
Catalon is a far more experienced and reliable coverage player than Burks, and should see the lion’s share of these deep safety snaps. Burks likes to hit, and will be better suited supporting the run closer to the line of scrimmage, the role where Charleston thrived in 2023 alongside the deep roaming Jaylon Carlies. About half of Catalon’s career 2,209 snaps have come at the deep safety position, and he will find familiar territory on Mizzou’s backend.
When He’ll Play: Catalon has one fall left of college football, and health allowing, he won’t spend much of it riding the pine. He will start at free safety on Labor Day weekend for your Missouri Tigers.
What It All Means: Catalon brings it all. He provides high caliber coverage at a position where Mizzou sorely needed it. He will bring mentorship and leadership to a position group with young players. There is a chance he will be Mizzou’s best defensive player next year. And for fun, he will play his final collegiate regular season game on the field where he started — against their rival. This was a big get for Mizzou’s transfer class, and Tiger fans should be pumped.