In about 2 1/2 weeks Grizzly Football will be back to business prepping for the season, and as I had previously posted the Grizzly defense effectively returns no full-season starters from last year, however a handful of guys that were credited multiple starts throughout the season. The defense has entirely turned over due to graduations, departures, and a massive influx from the transfer portal. For the more casual Griz fan they are going to hardly recognize any names. The 2024 defense had to rely on a lot of transfers and largely it didn't really work out for the best. 2025 is going to try it again, so let's break down the positions.
Defensive Line: If I'm reading Payton's 2025 transfer list correctly, the defensive line added 8 (!!!!) new transfers this off-season. What I'm a little unsure of is if some of the DE guys will be that more stand-up edge rusher / LB or not, but let's look at what we've got. It seems in the middle going off spring ball there's a reliance/expectation upon transfer Braydon Bailey (305 lbs) who seemed to be having some issues with the pace of practice in the spring, and Jareb Ramos (285 lbs) who has been with the Griz for quite some time now. Ramos seemed to be the 1st team guy coming out of the spring. I'm hearing some rumor that DT Jake Mason is going to play more DE this year, we'll see - he's one of our younger and up and coming D-linemen. From the portal we also add some assassins who might just have 1 more year to go, Solomon Tuliapupu from USC who's had a history of knee injuries, Derek Moreland from SW OK St, and Hunter Peck from Carroll College who was a standout in the Frontier. Additional transfers are Zekiel Seumalo from Allan Hancock College, Hayden Schwartz from Minnesota, and Cole Muilenberg from Valpo. I've not seen much from many of these D-line transfers because I think many of them we added after spring camp. Another transfer that I believe was here in the spring is Giovanni Pifferini, but I can't recall much from him this spring. A few guys that have been on roster for a few years now had solid spring camps and could be the glue on this D-line, that's Kellen Detrick, who was starting a bit, and Matai Mata'afa who was making some plays as a DE.
Linebacker: Linebacker also saw an influx of transfers, 4 total, but unlike most of the D-line transfers, I think all of the linebacker transfers save maybe 1 were here in the spring. This group could be sneaky good but it'll have to harken back to the tough/badass crews of years before and hopefully this collection of great players can play together as a unit. The LB corps added two all-conference linebackers, first teamer Elijawah Tolbert from EIU and then second team all conf Payton Wing from PSU - Wing was the 1 guy I think who wasn't here this spring. Both super solid pickups, Tolbert will start, I'd bet Wing will find his way into it as well based on his history. Caleb Moran (Army) and Styles Goodman (AF Prep) transfer in as well, these two both have 4 years to play so safe to assume they're being brought in as guys to develop over some time. I would still venture our day 1 starter in the LB Corps will be Geno Leonard who was on a path to do so last year before a camp injury sidelined him until November. Also hopefully Caleb Otlewski (The Centaur) avoided a major setback in this spring game and will be out there, he officially has 4 starts logged to his name I believe and that might be the most of any returning Griz player. There's the younger corps of LBs that should be the future of this unit as well, they're going to rotate and help a ton, and they're going to make ST be damned good as well, that's Cy Stevenson, Hayden Optiz, and Clay Oven (all Montana kids). I could see our new #37 Oven playing more on defense than ST this year.
Cornerback: Corner also saw some transfers and it'll be interesting to see if some of them work their way into the rotation. Most of the spring we saw Kyon Loud and Prince Ford as the main guys, Ford has elevated his game nicely, Loud is our best shutdown corner right now. Holdovers Lawler, Brady, and Huff were rotating a lot too. I saw some good, some less than good from them. I really like Huff as more of a slot nickel/corner but he's also that type of wildman on ST that plays with reckless abandon. Per Payton's list the team also added Rashid Mansour (Reedly JC), Terahati Wolf (Golden West CC), and Justus Breston (College of Mary). Wolf had a rough spring game but I saw some good stuff from him in a few practices, Breston did some things I liked too. I think Mansour was a post-camp addition? I'd really like to see 1 or 2 more guys show that we've got some reliable depth behind Ford and Loud.
Safety: Another group that at some points could consist of all new transfers. This spring we saw 3 transfers in, Diezel Wilkinson (Idaho), Jelani Davis (Utah), and Micah Harper (BYU). 2 of the transfers were here this spring I believe and Harper stood out the most to me, I saw some good stuff early from Wilkinson. Davis was an early summer signee - we'll have to see, he's a heralded high school recruit but didn't log any gametime in 2024 per the Utah website. I know I listed Wolfe as a corner, I see the gogriz.com site shows him possibly as a DB/safety instead. Of returning original recruits the most experienced is the only other senior besides Harper is TJ Rausch who has a lot of playing time. This spring we got to see a lot of the soph/juniors play and Kade Boyd and Kade Cutler both did some nice things as well, I like Boyd's attitude on the field. Younger guys like Goicoechea & Parker are probably still putting in that behind the scenes work. Before the influx of transfers I'd heard suggestion that one of the Beaner brothers coming in could vye for time right away. Then there's a few "athlete" transfers that aren't yet assigned a spot on the gogriz roster, Grady Walker, and Fynn Ridgeway - I think Fynn got some reps at safety, but I could have been confused on that. Walker, I can't recall if they're thinking WR/TE for him still or safety. I also could be wrong but I felt like I saw Tanner Huff playing some safety as well.
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I will be honest, I just don't know what to expect from this group overall. I think the talent is there, a lot of the transfers expected to play are coming from FBS programs and some from peer FCS conferences with similar levels of competition. However if you look at it - save corner - we could be looking at a depth chart that features 9 of 11 starters as new transfers this year. How will that work for continuity, communication, and being able to play/expect/anticipate the game alongside each other? What will also be interesting to see happen is if some of the original recruits, most of which have a lot of Montana background in them, can be driving/motivating guys to help instill the culture of Montana football in this group.
Damn near this entire defense has been rebuilt and will rely on transfer experience, blended with long time on-roster support, to make things happen. This could work well, it could be an unmitigated mess, it could be like last year with some goods and some bads. The defensive coaching staff has their work cut out, but I do believe they have the talent to make things work on field.
It's hard to really predict so far what we have in this group. If the 2025 Grizzlies want to be more successful than the 2024 team this group has to stop the run and pressure the QB FAR better - hence probably the 8 transfers on the D-line. Time will tell!
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