STAFF ROUNDTABLE: G5 Defensive Impact Transfers In 2024

G5 Football Daily Staff | Jun 18, 2024

Sep 16, 2023; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels defensive back Isheem Young (1) runs out of the tunnel prior to the game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports / Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports

Offense sells tickets, but the old saying is still mostly true - defense wins championships.

As has become the norm throughout Division I football, transfer players will be some of the most important ones in 2024. Just about every squad beefed up their rosters to add the ball hawks and tackling machines they need to make the next step, especially in the G5.

This week, G5 Football Daily managing editor Joe Londergan and staff writer Kevin Barral are joined by Eric Henry of 247Sports and Horns247 as they give their power rankings for the defensive transfers set to make a noticeable impact on new G5 teams this coming season.

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Joe: Korey Foreman (EDGE, Fresno State), Caleb Ransaw (CB, Tulane) Jalen Catalon (S, UNLV), Tony Grimes (CB, UNLV), Isheem Young (S, North Texas) 

Former five-star recruits making their way to the G5, even in the transfer portal era, is rare. Foreman brings that pedigree to Fresno State from USC, where he had more than a few impressive plays in critical moments as a rotational player over the last three seasons. 

At defensive back, the trio of Ransaw, Catalan, and Grimes are intriguing. Both Catalon and Grimes both bring their fairly extensive resumes in at P5 stops to Las Vegas after UNLV’s best season in decades in 2023. Ransaw follows one of the G5’s better defensive coaches (Jon Sumrall) to Tulane after being a part of back-to-back Sun Belt championship teams at Troy.

Young stands out for a few reasons, but mainly he can provide a sort of field general at UNT that the Mean Green defense don’t seem like they’ve had since KD Davis. Young was Big 12 Co-Defensive Freshman of the Year in 2020 at Iowa State. He also spent two seasons at Ole Miss.

Kevin: Travion Barnes (LB, FIU), Jayden McDonald (LB, UConn), Caleb Ransaw (CB, Tulane), Isheem Young (S, North Texas), Tony Grimes (CB, UNLV)

Coming from the JUCO ranks, Travion Barnes will be an impact player right away. Posting 124 total tackles, and four sacks in 2023, he will have the opportunity to play a lot for an FIU team that still has a lot of questions entering 2024.

Jayden McDonald spent the past four years with the Troy Trojans before entering the portal this past winter, committing to Indiana and then re-entering the portal to commit to UConn. Through his career at Troy, he had 191 total tackles, and 2.5 sacks. He should help out a UConn defense which struggled in 2024.

The rest of the players were mentioned by either Eric or Joe, but Caleb Ransaw is coming off a career year with Troy posting 51 total tackles, 28 solo tackles, 23 assisted tackles and an interception. He joins the AAC winning Tulane Greenwave who underwent a coaching change and look to repeat as champions.

I ended up going with Tony Grimes as my number one player primarily due to his success at the Power Four level with UNC. In his time with the Tarheels, Grimes had 97 tackles, and one interception. This past season, Grimes had transferred to Texas A&M, but did not play, so he re-entered the portal to seek a new opportunity with a UNLV defense that ranked seventh in the Mountain West, but had the second most interceptions, so Grimes is sure to help boost the defense.

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Eric: Decarius Hawthorne (DT, South Florida), Jalen Catalon (S, UNLV), Kitan Crawford (DB, Nevada), Isheem Young (S, North Texas), Tony Grimes (CB, UNLV)

The selection of former FAU defensive tackle Decarius Hawthorne may seem like a surprise. However, play in the trenches can’t be overstated and an interior defensive lineman who was among the tops in the nation in pressure rate and managed 4.5 sacks (including a sack-and-a-half against USF last year) shouldn’t be understated. 

UNLV’s Jalen Catalon has had a long career that’s been riddled by injuries. After becoming a first-team all-SEC performer with Arkansas, Catalon struggled to stay healthy and last season at Texas, suffered the same fate after being brought in as a starter. If healthy, he provides a run-stuffing thumper in the secondary. 

Nevada’s Kitan Crawford was labeled by Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian as one of the top gunners in America during his time in Austin. In 2023, with an injury to the aforementioned Catalon, Crawford saw extended time in the secondary and was a solid contributor for first-year Wolf Pack head coach Jeff Choate, when both were with Texas. 

Rounding out the group is North Texas’ Isheem Young, who will look to help sure up a Mean Green defense that’s been up and down for the better part of the last decade and former North Carolina standout Tony Grimes, who when he was with the Tar Heels was a more than adequate corner in the ACC.