Thousands of college football players have already entered the transfer portal. Among the reported 4,500+ Division I players looking for new homes: Kennesaw State corner JeRico Washington, nickel Five Hamilton, and strong safety Isaac Paul.
You know who’s not planning to leave, at least as of Monday afternoon? A promising foundation from Marc Mattioli’s defense, including first team All-CUSA pass rusher Elijah Hill, starting DE Marcus Patterson, nickel Kody Jones (if he’s eligible), and both starting linebackers, among others. I’m officially buying stock on that side of the ball if (obviously a massive if) the rest of that unit stays on board and we don’t see any mid-window swerves. For all I know, though, this entire post might be hilariously out of date by the time you read it.
As a long-winded thought experiment, let’s say the season started tomorrow and nobody currently in the portal was allowed to play.
The Owls defense would look something like this:
DE Marcus Patterson: At our budget, I always try to think about where KSU can find an advantage in roster building. How can they stretch the dollar and make the pieces fit, especially at premium positions like defensive end? For Patterson, scheme fit is the #1 factor in my opinion. Mattioli switched back and forth between odd and even fronts all season, and the 6’3” 260-pounder’s ability to hold up essentially everywhere but nose maximized his value.
DT Jaiden Grimes: A similar story for Grimes, who would be the Tylon Dunlap replacement. Major retention if he stays on board, especially as a + pass rusher from the inside.
Nose Jackson Cooper: Mattioli and DL coach Jonathan Bradley have pushed out a handful of offers to transfer tackles already, and nose in particular will be a point of emphasis to replace Adam Watkins. Cooper, an IMG graduate, was already in the mix for playing time by Week 1 of his true freshman season and ended up getting 225 snaps. AJ Miller is also in the picture.
Rush Donovan Westmoreland/Elijah Hill: To put his freshman season into context, imagine a shooting guard playing 11 minutes per game off the bench, making first team all conference, and leading the league in scoring. Sick stuff. I honestly thought he would be long gone, as there are teams across the country that will pay high six figures for worse pass rushers. Westmoreland checks a lot of versatility boxes and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get even more linebacker reps next season.
LB Baron Hopson: Donelius Johnson’s announced portal entry probably says a lot about the plans for Hopson’s final year. If BHop, who was injured for most of KSU’s FBS debut before winning the job in ‘25, was leaning toward a transfer for his final year, you’d think Johnson would be in a perfect position to take over at Mike coming off a season-ender of his own.
LB Tywon Christopher: KSU’s been busy recruiting linebackers, but Christopher emerged late in the season once Garland Benyard went down. Having a former safety manning the Will spot gives Mattioli helps the Owls stay in base a little more often. Huge to keep the pair of LBs together.
Nickel Kody Jones: Is the former Michigan DB running it back? If Christian Moss still has eligibility, I don’t see how Jones would be out. This is probably the most important position on the entire defense and continuity goes a long way. Could maybe see Jones moving back to safety depending on what kind of talent comes in.
CB Tay’vion Lawson and Ethan Tookes: Offord and Washington both played 800-plus snaps, which didn’t leave many reps for Lawson and Tookes. The two returners have the lengthy frame (6’2” in both cases) that the staff prefers and in a weird coincidence are both from Jacksonville. Does it say something that the Owls are willing to let Washington walk? Probably so. Tyler Hallum could also return after injury if he gets a medical redshirt.
SS Alex Ford: This season, PFF graded the WKU transfer (70.0) as KSU’s top safety and #8 defender overall. Ford and Antonio Stevens (who’s unfortunately out the door) raised the level of a safety room that was CUSA’s worst in 2024.
FS Kayden Miller: Going to be honest — no clue who to put here. I’m going to take the fact that the upcoming sophomore didn’t wash out with a lot of the other DBs from the last couple classes as some sort of endorsement.
A few thoughts on the defenders currently in the portal, all of whom are all players who would be welcome surprises if they changed course and decided to come back. Big picture: I just think if Mattioli was evaluating all the eligible returners for an expansion draft, these are probably the ones he would’ve left unprotected:
Five Hamilton: We’re looking at a similar trajectory to Jayven Williams in Hamilton’s case. He was a situational nickel most games and his share of snaps essentially boiled down to how much the opposition passed. Only 35% of his snaps came against the run, and he was only on the field for 20 snaps total from the Liberty game onward. He would probably like to be a full-time corner and North Texas already scheduled a visit.
JeRico Washington: The walk-on turned All-CUSA corner is set to check out Boise State in a couple days. We’ve already seen this movie before when Washington tested the waters last offseason. Mack and Mattioli won’t want to see him go, but I think the rev share money is better used elsewhere given what else the Owls need to replace. You could definitely sell me on getting one of him or Hamilton back, but I’m not sure there’s a way to fit both into the starting lineup regularly.
Isaac Paul: Took a step forward at safety in ‘25 after a rough FBS debut. Interesting career trajectory for the HS corner who ended up playing in the box much more than expected, starting with the ‘23 transition season. Wonder if going somewhere and finding a different role would be a nice changeup for him.
Donelius Johnson: Touched on it above, but with two years to play and Hopson currently blocking his path to playing time, it’s probably time to make a move. Johnson’s a sure tackler (5.2% missed tackle rate for his career) who would be a welcome returner, just maybe not in the role he’d like to play. He was listed as “day-to-day” for much of the season before, despite word trickling out during camp that he would be out for the year.
Targets to watch
Defensive line
Three Atlanta-area HS edges already signed in December: Zakir Abdul-Salaam, Connor Coxwell, and Amarion Jones, plus a couple JUCO DL out of Mississippi in Jonathan Keys (DT) and Montra Sanford (likely our Rush/bandit end at 240). As expected, rebuilding the interior has been a huge priority in the early days of the portal window. Offers to a trio of South Alabama linemen have put the connections of Jonathan Bradley, who coached the position for the Jaguars in 2024, to work in the early days.
Dominic Wiseman (6’0”, 300) - 241 snaps in ‘25, 64.0 PFF grade. Former JUCO player who appears to have one year left.
Nathan Jennings (6’3”, 290) - 270 snaps, 55.4 grade. 2024 HS 3-star who picked the Jaguars over Kennesaw and a solid G5 offer list. Sam Houston and UTEP are also reportedly in the mix.
Achilles Woods (6’3”, 289) - 175 snaps, 56.5 grade. UTEP and Kennesaw will meet on the portal trail once again, as those are two schools who’ve offered Woods according to his Twitter feed. A little more likely to be able to play end in an odd front than the other two - 21% of his snaps came over the opposing tackle.
I like the scheme fit because the South Alabama system also prides itself on versatility up front. A lighter learning curve, similar to some of the QBs/WRs in play, if Bradley and Mattioli are able to reel in a couple of these guys.
Much less volume out there on edges so far, as a lesser concern unless the Owls see additional outgoing movement. Domino effect benefit of keeping (fingers crossed) Hill, Patterson, Grimes, and Westmoreland around is that you already sorted out most of your pass rush and don’t need to go crazy spending at one of the most expensive positions in football. You can find a Rod Daniels tweener, which based on public offers, might be Jaylon Joseph (6’2”, 235) out of Lafayette. Mattioli could do a lot worse than picking up a hybrid DE/OLB with 1,500+ career snaps at the FCS level. Joseph posted 12.5 sacks last season and showed a willingness to drop into coverage at times, too.
Wingate’s Kai Russell (6’1”, 230) fits a similar mold and hasn’t posted any other offers that I’ve seen. Will be interesting to see how that particular recruitment unfolds in relation to what happens with Joseph.
Linebackers
If Hopson and Christopher are both back, it’s hard to see LB as a position where the Owls will devote a ton of resources toward finding a starter. Losing Garland Benyard to graduation, plus Donelius Johnson and Deldrick Franklin to the portal, means that the Owls do have some roster spots to fill, though. Thomas County Central product Omari Stephenson was the lone December signee that projects as an inside linebacker.
West Alabama LB JT Hooten (6’2”, 215) was an early offer for the Owls in mid-December. The D2 transfer would come up to FBS with three years left, but he’s since booked trips to WKU, JMU, and Troy.
Tennessee State’s Micah Gay, a HS teammate of outgoing TE Rowan Darnell, also reported a KSU offer. 500+ snaps and a 61.5 PFF grade on the season for the Tigers. His 23.0% missed tackle rate is terrifying, though. Gay announced visits to Jackson State and WKU.
Want to feel really old? Samford’s Carson Sloan was probably in the stands watching fellow Blackhear, GA native Stetson Bennett as a young boy. We are all ancient. The 6’2”, 225 ‘backer boasts portal offers from the Owls, Troy, App State, WKU, and Georgia Southern. Can the Owls get a visit?
A Whitehaven HS grad who went to Arkansas State? When has that ever worked out for Kennesaw? Javante Mackey (6’2", 245) is a bigger body in the mix. 415 career snaps with the Red Wolves and would have two years left. KSU got an up-close view of the MLB when he posted 11 tackles at Fifth Third Stadium last season. ODU is also in the picture.
Defensive backs
Kennesaw has stayed fairly quiet at the back end of the defense. If they’ve thrown out a ton of offers, I haven’t seen them yet — or the potential transfers haven’t gone public. Even during the early signing day, Mattioli’s defense only brought in one midyear enrollee at DB: Jordan Holmes, who might start a feud on the staff to see whether he ends up on offense or defense.
During the early stages of the portal window, a few targets have emerged and seem to be responses to very specific needs:
Tony Williams (UCF) certainly has the recruiting pedigree, ranking as 247’s #40 safety in the 2025 class and picked the Knights over Florida State, Arkansas, and Indiana, among others. He’s already got visits lined up with Kennesaw and North Texas and would probably be the top priority at the back end of the defense based on positional need and frame (6’2”, 195). CB experience could play well if he’s expected to take over for Milon Jones or Isaac Paul.
Call Gardner Webb’s Jecari Bryson a linebacker, safety, nickel, or whatever you want, but he would be an important under-the-radar target that would slot in really well with what the Owls like to do on defense. Consider him an Antonio Stevens As for midyear enrollees, Jordan Holmes will come in listed as a DB, but there will be a battle as to where he spends most of his time. He’s electric with the ball in his hands, and I was honestly thinking they might like him at WR. — not for the FS snaps but for when Stevens would play as a big nickel against 12P and other heavier packages. A 75.9 coverage grade at 6’3”, 215 definitely has my attention. One year left, like when Stevens came from Purdue.
CB Jaylen Moson (Utah) is a local product out of Kennesaw Mountain who’s back in the portal a year after transferring from Furman. Rice, South Alabama, Southern Miss, and Sam Houston are also in the picture. He’s 5’11”, 175, so not exactly Kennesaw’s prototype, but Moson may be a good replacement for Five Hamilton depending on what Mattioli thinks of the current state of his corners. Allowed just a 77.5 passer rating on 28 targets during his redshirt freshman season at Furman.
UPDATE: Literally minutes after hitting send on this one, another DB target emerged out of the shadows. There’s truly nothing this staff loves more than 6’2” corners.
