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Back on National Signing Day 2019, former coach Chad Morris said Jalen Catalon was one of the top five high school players he’d ever seen, mentioning him alongside the likes of Vince Young.

Ranked as high as No. 153 going into his senior season, Catalon nearly fell out of the Rivals250 thanks to a torn ACL suffered in Week 1. However, he recovered in time to play as a true freshman and had multiple pick-six interceptions in fall camp, adding to his lofty expectations.

That’s why it was a little surprising when the Razorbacks kept him mostly on the sideline the first nine games of the season, bungling the new redshirt rule by playing him two kneel down snaps at Ole Miss, two defensive snaps against San Jose State and one kickoff coverage snap at Kentucky.

Left with only one game to play if he was going to maintain his redshirt, Catalon played a significant number of snaps against Western Kentucky. When asked what he felt kept him off the field during a teleconference with local media Friday, the safety took the high road.

“I don’t know, that was kind of a coaching and player thing,” Catalon said. “At the end of the day, last year was just last year. I am not worried about what happened last year, just worried about the future and down the road.”

Catalon played well in that game against Western Kentucky, making six tackles to go along with a forced fumble and pass breakup in 29 snaps. That earned him a team-high 85.9 grade from Pro Football Focus.

A few days after the game, though, it was revealed that Catalon needed season-ending shoulder surgery, which ensured he’d maintain his redshirt for 2019. He said it was an injury that happened in high school, but didn’t bother him until he got into the season.

“I started feeling it a little bit when I made contact or using my shoulder whatsoever,” Catalon said. “That is when they tried to figure out the situation and I had a slight tear in my labrum. I already had three games under my belt, so I just played that Western Kentucky game and got surgery after that game.”

There was some speculation that the injury was behind the limited reps in his first three games, but Catalon said that wasn’t the case. He referenced teammates Joe Foucha and Hayden Henry playing through similar injuries.

“Everybody wants to be on the field whenever they get the chance to, so I don’t think that was a factor,” Catalon said. “Joe had a shoulder problem, too, but he played through it, so I know I could play through it, too.”

The good news is that his shoulder feels good now, which he credits the UA training staff for. He said the trainer gave him some workouts to do and that he’s still dong some therapy and shoulder work to keep it strong during this time away because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“My shoulder is 100 percent now,” Catalon said. “I am good to go and I am fully active and whenever everything kicks back off, I will be good to go.”

Looking back on his freshman year, Catalon sounded grateful to have played in the Western Kentucky game before having surgery and was okay with how the season played out for him personally.

“It was good to get that experience and get that game under my belt where I got a good amount of reps and a good amount of plays and stuff like that,” Catalon said. “At the same time, it was a humbling year for me to kind of look back and learn from the older guys and kind of see how things ran.”

Catalon said he looked up to Kamren Curl, who is skipping his senior season to enter the NFL Draft, and learned a lot from one of PFF’s highest graded safeties in the SEC.

Now going into his redshirt freshman season with a new coaching staff, he is a projected starter at one of Arkansas’ safety spots. Although disappointed about missing out on spring practice, Catalon has embraced the virtual meetings and is trying to learn the new system as best as he can.

“I’m kind of excited to see how things are going to work out down the road, but right now I’m keeping my head down, working hard, doing everything right and making sure that I do my best to put the team in the best position,” Catalon said. “From there, everything will take care of itself.”