The 2024 college football season presents an entirely new landscape. Texas is in the SEC. SMU is back in a power conference as ACC members. The College Football Playoff now includes 12 teams and an automatic bid for the best G5 team in the land. For most, the start of the season is in Week 1 on August 30, though SMU starts in Week 0 and TCU plays its first game on Aug. 29. 

To celebrate us making it through another off-season, we’re counting down the 50 most important players in Texas as we inch closer to kickoffs. This list isn’t necessarily about which players are the best in terms of NFL draft stock. It ranks players in order of importance to their team's success. 

No. 10: North Texas Safety Isheem Young

The History: When Eric Morris envisioned the 3-3-5 defense at North Texas, Isheem Young was the type of safety it required. Young started 21 games at Iowa State, the program whose defense gave Morris fits when he was the offensive coordinator at Texas Tech. After two seasons, 110 tackles and a Big 12 Co-Defensive Freshman of the Year award, Young transferred to Ole Miss. He started nine games in 2022, but his playing time fell in 2023, prompting him to revitalize his career in Denton.

The Skillset: Safeties in a 3-3-5 defense have greater responsibility, and therefore greater power, than most.

“They have to have a skill set where not only are they defending the pass, but they’re primary run fits a lot of times for us,” Morris said. “It takes a unique skill set back there to play some of these safety positions that we have.”

Last season, North Texas finished last in the nation in run defense. One of the many reasons for the dismal figure; the defensive backfield wasn’t physical enough in the run game. At 5-foot-10, 210 pounds, Young is tasked with tackling like a linebacker.

The Impact: North Texas’s offense, even with the production lost, should finish in the top of the American Athletic Conference. If the defense can just crack the top 100 in yards per game allowed, the Mean Green go bowling in 2024. Enter Young, the most veteran of a group of transfers in the defensive backfield bringing the wood in the run game.