Sure, NCAA Division II football may be the home of plenty of haywire, high-scoring offenses.

But we aren't about to let you forget about some of the players balling out on the other side of the ball.

Matthew Judon, Corey Ballentine, and Kyle Dugger are among the many players who have carved out great pro careers for themselves after excelling in the D-II ranks, and there is no reason to think that a few select stars currently shining on the defensive side right now in the division won’t get their shots to thrive in the NFL someday, either.

• Subscribe To Watch Division II Football On FloFootball
• Division II College Football 2024 Conference Preseason Polls
• Ferris State Football Schedule 2024: Times, Dates And Anchor-Bone News

Whether it’s raw talent, eye-popping intangibles, or some sort of mixture, these 10 D-II defensive stalwarts are worth keeping an eye on in 2024 — especially considering that some of their games will be streamed live and exclusively on FloFootball nearly every Saturday.

Here’s a look ahead at 10 D-II defensive standouts to watch out for this upcoming season, part of FloFootball’s exclusive streaming and coverage of some of the best conferences in D-II football all fall long:

Tanner Volk, DB, Central Washington

An obvious choice for the list, heavily due to the fact that he became the first junior ever to win the Cliff Harris Award given out to the small college defensive player of the year nationally, Volk — the only defensive player to be a finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy this past year, given out to the most valuable player in D-II — is coming off one of the greatest defensive seasons in the history of college football, let alone just D-II. 

The lifeblood of a Wildcats defense that got to the national quarterfinals, Volk led the entirety of the NCAA with 13 interceptions (five more than his next-closest competitors in D-II) and paced all of D-II with 124 total tackles, flying around the field all season long as CWU made its deepest postseason run since 2009. 

Named a First Team All-American by every major outlet that covers D-II and one of the few D-II players to be tabbed onto the East-West Shrine Bowl 1,000 watch list as an NFL Draft prospect to watch this fall, Volk has earned his place as the best defensive player in D-II and will be trying to help the Wildcats advance even further in the postseason this time around, with several other major returners around him amplifying expectations for the Lone Star Conference favorites.

MAN, it’s right around the corner😎 pic.twitter.com/vdZnbFCefW

— Tanner Volk (@TannerVolk) June 29, 2024

Marquise Fleming, DL, Wingate

The 6-foot-1 Fleming had never gotten a chance to play a full season of college football prior to last year, but once he was able to stay on the field consistently, he erupted into D-II’s most disruptive defensive lineman. 

The reigning national sack champion brought opposing quarterbacks down 14 times and tallied 22.5 tackles for loss in all as he was named both the South Atlantic Conference and Super Region 2’s Defensive Player of the Year for his efforts. Fleming had multiple sacks in four games — including a monster 3.5-sack haul in a big performance last year against Tusculum — en route to additionally garnering selections to the AP, AFCA, and D2CCA First Team All-America squads and being the runner-up for the Gene Upshaw Award, given annually to the D-II Lineman of the Year (offensive or defensive). 

It’s a new era in Wingate football history as longtime defensive coordinator Rashaan Jordan will be the head coach for the first time after Joe Reich departed to become the Bulldogs’ athletic director, but Fleming will be among those on the squad attempting to make Jordan’s opening season at the helm a memorable one as the program is projected to finish second in the SAC’s preseason coaches poll.

Micah Cretsinger, LB, Saginaw Valley State

Was there anything that Cretsinger couldn’t do last season? 

If there was something missing from the AP and AFCA First Team All-American linebacker’s game, it was hard to notice. 

A Second Team All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference selection in 2022, Cretsinger was already an established playmaker in the Cardinals’ defense, but his production exploded to another level entirely in 2023. 

He made a team-high 100 tackles and finished second in D-II with eight interceptions, four of which he returned for touchdowns to tie the D-II all-time single-season record — a haul that included a school-record four interceptions in a single game in SVSU’s home finale against Northern Michigan. 

Eye-popping performances like that as well as ones like the 14 tackles (with 4.5 for loss) and interception returned for a touchdown he pulled off in the same game against Michigan Tech became almost routine for arguably the division’s top linebacker, and while the GLIAC is always a formidable and rugged league, big losses in stars from league powers Ferris State and Grand Valley State have opened a potential window of opportunity for a team to strike. Could Cretsinger ensure that the Cardinals are the ones to seize the moment?

Andre Jefferson, DL, Lenoir-Rhyne

Well-known as a problem for offensive lines to deal with before 2023 — he was named an AFCA Second Team All-American in 2022 — Jefferson simply continued to produce a year ago despite all that additional notoriety. 

The 6-2, 295-pounder garnered 13 sacks (second in D-II) for the second straight season but also beefed up his total tackles for loss from 15 to 24 in the meantime, too, showing additional skills as a more complete defensive lineman rather than just strictly an elite pass-rusher. 

He was the cornerstone of a Bears defense that allowed just 14.7 points per game (seventh in D-II last season), which by and large was the backbone of a Lenoir-Rhyne squad that made a run to the national semifinals before losing to eventual national champion Harding. And while he was arguably snubbed from the AP and AFCA All-America teams in 2023, the SAC gave him some love as an All-SAC Defense selection on a monstrous D-line that included him, Wingate’s Fleming and Mars Hill’s Damipi Lamboni. 

With Lenoir-Rhyne expected to be strong once again, being ranked No. 12 in Lindy’s Sports D2 Preseason Top 25 rankings, it’s especially important that Jefferson is back to try and give the Bears another big year and contend once more for the SAC title.

Record breaker! Andre Jefferson is the new all-time leader in sacks in @LRBearsFootball history!#GOBEARS pic.twitter.com/4YrRXXS3J0

— Lenoir-Rhyne Bears (@LRbears) December 2, 2023

Garrett Cox, LB, Indiana (Pennsylvania)

One of the most high-profile D-II to D-II transfers of the offseason actually occurred within the same conference, in fact. 

Cox was a fantastic talent at Millersville who was twice named to the All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference First Team in both 2022 and 2023, but the Marauders were never particularly good while he was there as they finished under .500 in each of his three completed seasons at the school. 

Those losing marks included a 3-8 record that they had this past season despite 114 tackles and 7.5 sacks from Cox, which resulted in an AFCA First Team All-America selection for him as his team was languishing in the PSAC basement. Fast forward to this upcoming season and Cox has a new home at IUP, and while the Crimson Hawks missed out on the playoffs this past season despite starting the 2023 campaign as a top-15 team, coach Paul Tortorella has never had a losing record in any of his six seasons in charge of IUP. 

The team hung its hat on strong defense last year (19.7 points per game allowed in 2023, second-fewest in the PSAC) and with the addition of the experienced Cox, that trend looks likely to continue on for the Crimson Hawks.

Mikael King, DB, Tuskegee

In the Golden Tigers’ fall camp a season ago, Tuskegee’s coaches decided to embark on a process to turn King — then a 5-10, 175-pound wide receiver who was at that point sparingly seeing the field — into a defensive back. 

A year on with a lot of impressive moments from King later, it’s safe to say that they made the correct choice in directing him to make the switch. 

King, a junior and Tuskegee, Alabama native balling out for his hometown school, finished the 2023 season with twice as many interceptions (six) as he had previous career catches (three) in a breakout sophomore surge that featured 14 pass breakups in all. Those efforts landed him a spot on the AFCA’s First Team All-America squad and additionally set him in stone as one of the country’s best HBCU players at any level going into the fall. 

King wasn’t just a ball hawk, either, putting up solid numbers of 45 total tackles with 2.5 for loss in his first season playing on the defensive side, making it especially impressive that he was a finalist for the Cliff Harris Award this past season and listed along with some of the premier defensive talents in D-II. 

Daniel Bone III, DB, Colorado State Pueblo

A D2CCA First Team All-American in 2022 after recording 69 tackles and picking off six passes, Bone III’s tackle numbers went up (84) but interception numbers went down (two) in 2023, which still earned him First Team All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference honors, an honorable mention All-America nod from Don Hansen’s Football Gazette and nomination for the Cliff Harris Award. 

The ThunderWolves get their shutdown safety back once again for 2024, however, and with CSU Pueblo picked to finish third in the RMAC as league favorite Colorado School of Mines endures a quarterback change with no more 2022 Harlon Hill Trophy winner John Matocha, there is a realistic chance that Bone III and his squad can break through the glass ceiling and take back the RMAC for the first time since 2018. 

It’s a testament to Bone III’s skillset that he has earned a place on this list even with the presence of some electric offenses from last season like Colorado Mines, South Dakota Mines and Western Colorado — all of which ranked in the top 30 nationally in scoring a year ago — but as arguably the best safety in the country not named Tanner Volk, it’s deserved kudos.

Maven Kretche, DL, Minnesota State

Seemingly the next star in line for a long rock-solid Mavericks program, the massive 6-6, 265-pound Kretche — who also has a reported vertical jump of 34.5 inches — is one of D-II’s biggest athletic freaks, which helps his stock in terms of having some serious pro potential a la former MSU standouts/active NFL veterans like Adam Thielen and Chris Reed. 

An AFCA Second Team All-American and First Team Super Region 4 pick, Kretche hit double digits on sacks (finishing with 10.5) for the first time in his college career as the Wisconsin native was nominated for the Cliff Harris Award and had multiple big-time performances for the Mavs, such as his two-sack days against in-state/Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference rivals Minnesota State Moorhead and Southwest Minnesota State last season. 

In pairing with fellow defensive lineman Cody Brown (4.5 sacks in 2023), MSU’s interior linemen corps has had some beef to it as of late as well as plenty of ability to disrupt offensive line schemes. Kretche in particular, as one of 15 D-II/D-III players selected to this year’s East-West Shrine Bowl 1,000 watch list, most definitely has enough size and skill to put himself on some pro radars this fall, however, especially with another strong year in Mankato.

Melvin Smith Jr., DB, Southern Arkansas

The pride of Bossier City, Louisiana, and an East-West Shrine Bowl 1,000 watch list nominee, Smith is as shutdown as it gets for the Muleriders as his 20 pass breakups a season ago as a junior (with four additional interceptions and two of them returned for touchdowns, as well) were both a school record and the second-most in all of D-II. 

Southern Arkansas’ Male Athlete of the Year last season was integral to a historic campaign for the school as last year was the Muleriders’ first 10-win season in 71 years and their first season with a postseason win (in the Live United Bowl) since joining the NCAA in 1995; him being one of nine All-Great American Conference returners for the squad additionally means that SAU will be primed to give defending league and national champion Harding a run for its money this fall. 

That’s much easier said than done, especially considering that the Bisons rarely throw the ball, but SAU went 10-2 with all of that talent last season and Smith Jr.'s lockdown ability for the Muleriders is an asset that many other teams across the country would love to have.

Jamae Blank, DL, UNC Pembroke

A good gamer at Chowan — that’s both figuratively and literally, as he played both football and Fortnite (on the Esports team) for the Hawks — Blank entered the transfer portal after the 2022 season and found a new home at UNC Pembroke after already great numbers in his final year at Chowan (64 total tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss and three sacks). 

That change of scenery upon being a member of the Braves helped turn Blank into one of D-II’s best defensive ends. 

He immediately hit the ground running at UNCP, picking up at least a half-tackle for loss in every game as he finished with 21.5 stops behind the line on the year with 12.5 of them being sacks, the latter number of which was both a school record, and ranked tied for third in all of D-II in 2023. 

The winner of the Mountain East Conference’s Co-Defensive Player of the Year honor, Blank added to his awards haul with a selection to the D2CCA All-Super Region 1 team and a nod on the Don Hansen All-American Honorable Mention squad to boot as he’ll attempt to lead the Braves back to their first playoff appearance since 2016. 

Archived Footage On FloFootball

Video footage from all events will be archived and stored in a video library for FloFootball subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscription.

Watch The 2024 College Football Season On FloFootball 

FloFootball is the home of the best FCS, Division II, and Division III football action all season long. Don't miss the latest college football action by bookmarking the FloFootball schedule page for the latest games. 

Join the College Football Conversation

• Follow us on Twitter @FloFootball
• Follow us on Instagram @FloFootball
• Follow us on TikTok @FloFootball
• Watch us on YouTube
• Like us on Facebook