Arizona leading tackler Dalton Johnson withdraws from transfer portal

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Published Dec 20, 2024

Arizona leading tackler Dalton Johnson withdraws from transfer portal

Matt Moreno • GOAZCATS

Senior Editor

@MattRMoreno

Arizona's leading tackler is returning to Tucson next season. Do-it-all defensive back Dalton Johnson removed his name from the transfer portal Thursday just over a week after deciding that he would entertain his options on Dec. 11.

The Katy, Texas native had emerged as a top prospect in the portal with Rivals ranking him 43rd overall as of Thursday. Instead, he will rejoin the Wildcats for his final season following a standout year at UA.

Johnson finished the season as Arizona's leader with a career-best 94 tackles to go along with five tackles for loss, two pass breakups and two forced fumbles. The 5-foot-11 safety, who served a variety of roles for the Wildcats in 2024 because of injuries on the defense, also spent time as a hybrid linebacker this year as one of the healthy players for Duane Akina's group.

The redshirt junior will have one season of remaining eligibility at Arizona and will look to build on back-to-back successful years in Tucson. Over the last two seasons, Johnson has compiled 180 tackles to go with 11 tackles for loss, six forced fumbles and an interception.

Johnson was called into a bigger role later in the season when players started to go down around him, and it resulted in more opportunities to make an impact for Arizona's defense. He had three games with double-digit tackles including a season-high 15 tackles against TCU in a game in which he also had three tackles for loss.

Johnson played the fourth-most snaps this season for Arizona's defense as he was on the field for 681 plays.

Thursday was an important day for the Wildcats' secondary as fellow safety Genesis Smith also withdrew his name from the portal to return to the team in 2025 following his breakout sophomore season.

Johnson and Smith's return means the Wildcats will bring back a big portion of the secondary that contributed this year.

UA also has added three defensive backs through the transfer portal already this month including Jay'Vion Cole (Texas), Jshawn Frausto-Ramos (Stanford) and Michael Dansby (San Jose State).

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