Texas Longhorns Safety Jalen Catalon Enters NCAA Transfer Portal

Texas Longhorns safety Jalen Catalon is entering the NCAA Transfer Portal

Matt Galatzan | Dec 4, 2023

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Texas Longhorns safety Jalen Catalon will now not be a part of the Texas Longhorns College Football Playoff run, after entering the NCAA Transfer Portal on Monday night.

Catalon, who transferred from Arkansas this past offseason, has posted 17 total tackles and one forced fumble this season.

He was a starter for the first part of the season, but after his injury vs. Oklahoma, was sidelined for most of the rest of the season.

Catalon spent four years with the Razorbacks but played in just seven games in the past two seasons due to injury. He had eight total tackles and a pass defense in Arkansas' 40-21 win over Texas in 2021.

"(Jalen) Catalon is a natural leader," Sarkisian said during the offseason. "You know, we're in winter conditioning and he's coaching guys on the side on specific drills, and why we're doing the drills."

"That's what we were hopeful we would be getting - a little bit more vocal in the backend and a little bit more confident player to play the style we want to play."

In 18 games with the Razorbacks, Catalon was all over the field, racking up 159 tackles, nine passes defended, five interceptions, and three forced fumbles in 18 games.

Catalon has suffered from multiple shoulder injuries over the last two seasons, but when healthy, had proved himself to be one of the best safeties in the SEC.

Before his injury issues began Catalon had 99 tackles three interceptions and two forced fumbles in the 2020 season and was named an All-SEC first-team player.

Published Dec 4, 2023

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns In SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks with the 247Sports network. He also spent two years covering the SMU Mustangs for PonyStampede.com for 247Sports. He then moved over to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. Through the years, Galatzan has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, NBA legend Dirk Nowitzki, ex Longhorns Dan Neil and Phil Dawson, FOX News and former ESPN host Will Cain, as well as countless other recruits and former players for each of the teams he has covered. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.