Arkansas Lands Safety Jalen Catalon over Longhorns, Horned Frogs, Sooners

One of the Razorbacks' most-wanted prospects in the 2019 class is finally locked in after months of hard recruiting. Arkansas completed their final in-home visit with 4-star safety Jalen Catalon last night and he chose to call the Hogs today over 19 other offers, most notably Texas, TCU and Oklahoma which were his top four schools.

"Coach Morris is just a great coach and just a great person overall, I see how much he cares for his players on and off the field," Catalon said.

Catalon is the third commit out of Mansfield Legacy in this class and he's now the 8th defensive 4-star in the class. Chad Morris began recruiting Catalon at SMU and it was his first offer, along with Missouri on the same day. When Morris moved to Fayetteville, Catalon's name was one of the first on the big board for the Hogs.

He joins 4-star defensive backs Devin Bush, Greg Brooks Jr. and Adonis Otey, and 3-stars Myles Brooks and Malik Chavis. Bush and Brooks Jr. are already enrolled at Arkansas while Otey and Brooks have yet to sign.

Pulling the Texas native out of the Lone Star State was no small feat, the Longhorns led his recruitment for quite some time but Morris signing two of Catalon's teammates, Enoch Jackson and Taurean Carter, signaled a turning of the tide for the Hogs and a great official visit pretty much sealed the deal for Arkansas.

No coach made more of an effort to see and connect with Catalon than Arkansas corners coach Mark Smith who covers Dallas recruiting for the Razorbacks, and their relationship, along with Morris and Ron Cooper, made the difference.

TCU was a concern for quite some time with their close proximity to Mansfield but they didn't make up much ground on his final official visit last weekend and Catalon's chance at early playing time is far greater at Arkansas than his other choices.

The 5-foot-10 safety was at one point ranked as high as no. 153 in the nation but an ACL tear to start his senior year caused him to lose ground to other defensive back prospects and he finishes at no. 243 and the 20th best safety in the 2019 class.

Catalon has 4.6-4.5 speed and that continues to be one of his biggest focuses as he continues rehabbing and getting ready for the next level. He told Rivals his rehab has been going great and he'll be good to go by fall camp. He's a hard hitting, instinctive player that his coaches compare to a young Earl Thomas.

The new commitment adds 34 points to Arkansas's team recruiting score making the Hogs 16th once more behind Florida State, ahead of Nebraska. Arkansas has never had 14 4-stars in one recruiting class making this one of the most talented, and deepest, classes the Hogs have ever had. Bringing in 29 players in 2019 means more than a third of the scholarship roster will be new and inexperienced but it's the first huge step in the right direction after a disappointing season for Arkansas.

Catalon takes up the final spot in the 2019 class so any new addition will mean the loss of an unsigned commit like Otey, Brooks, running back A'montae Spivey, or defensive end Dante Walker. The Hogs are still in the market for a linebacker who could compete for immediate playing time like 4-star JUCO LB Lakia Henry.

"One thing is certain when you watch Jalen Catalon play football, the guy is absolutely electric playing the safety position. For starters, almost all the film I saw of him, he is playing in a single high safety look, giving him a lot more field to cover. But he is incredibly rangy, and has intuition and feel like few possess playing that spot.

He simply reacts to the thrown ball with immense closing speed and elite anticipation. Also, the kid is an absolute ballhawk. Tore his ACL playing QB his senior season but had 10+ interceptions as a junior with the opportunity for more. Looks like he could play receiver, the way he high points and comes down with those catches. Willing tackler is an understatement; if you’re going over the middle of the field, be ready to take a shot. Not just that, but if he diagnoses run, he is one of the first to the line of scrimmage, and delivers massive hits frequently.

The only negative, if there is one at this stage, is his tackling form seems to usually be head or shoulder first, going for the huge hit. May need some work in that regard, but also may not, just depends how much he’s been coached in that area, and my guess is quite a bit. Electric, rangy, fast, he has all the tools of an elite safety." - Jacob Carmichael

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