Eli Drinkwitz reveals conversation with Nick Saban about Jalen Catalon, trolls Greg McElroy

Jalen Catalon is back in the SEC with his transfer this offseason to Missouri. He’s now gotten the attention not only of his new team in Columbia but even that of the GOAT.

Eli Drinkwitz spoke about the Tigers’ addition of Catalon in the portal while at the podium at SEC Media Days on Thursday morning. That included a call from Nick Saban about him, which allowed a chance for Drinkwitz to call out Greg McElroy for what he shared to start the week in Atlanta.

“Yeah, you know, Jalen Catalon is a guy that played against us in 2020 during the COVID year. Didn’t play in the first half because of a targeting penalty and, man, he came on and was an elite player, and has been an elite player for a long time,” Drinkwitz said.

“You know, Coach Saban, all summer, he calls and does scouting reports with all the head coaches – not to get back into coaching, just want to clear that up for Greg McElroy. But,(Saban)does that to make sure he has an edge on the competition and the first person he asked about was Jalen Catalon because he said, ‘Man, that guy has played a lot of really good football at a high level.'”

Catalon is a graduate transfer safety who has made previous stops in six collegiate seasons at Arkansas, Texas, and UNLV. He has made 43 appearances overall in that career with the Razorbacks, Longhorns, and Rebels and, with that, has posted 272 tackles, 13 deflections, 10 interceptions with a pair being pick-sixes, and five forced fumbles.

Now, those attributes are already on display for Mizzou. That’s been needed as well with what Drinkwitz says the Tigers lost in that area of their secondary.

“Instinctual. He’s got great instincts. He understands, diagnoses what offenses are trying to do. He’s got a knack for finding the football in the air. He’s really good at blitzing,” Drinkwitz said. “You know, we play a lot of single high defense and use that safety to insert, which is something that Jalen can really do. And, we’re very excited about what he brings to that room. You know, we lost a lot of career starts with Joseph Charleston and so we needed somebody in that back end.

“So, very, very proud and excited about (Catalon) and what he’s going to bring to our football team,” Drinkwitz said. “He’s been awesome.”