SI All-American Candidate Caden Fordham Highlights and Evaluation

Caden Fordham is a safety prospect from The Bolles School in Jacksonville, Fla. Fordham is an SI All-American candidate.

Prospect: S Caden Fordham
Projected Position: Off-Ball Linebacker (Sam)
Status: SI All-American candidate
Vitals: 6-foot-2, 220 pounds.
School: Jacksonville (Fla.) The Bolles School
Committed to: NC State

Frame: Tall with wide shoulders and big chest. Fair bubble and sturdy lower base. 

Athleticism: Active with a hot motor. Plays in space and on-ball. Good linear athleticism and quickness. Has enough speed to chase long from backside and reach ball-carriers. Can weave around and slip past mass to combat play-side run game. Is capable of crashing from edge before coming to balance and using solid quickness to finish. 

Instincts: Shows a quick convert to add himself to rush when green-dogging in passing game. Can adequately dip inside shoulder to bend and clear his hips through entry points when rushing. Times his blitzes well from flanks with late walk before snap. Has fair coverage awareness and can keep 2 and 3 in his vision versus stack releases. Can relate to 3 and zone off to 1 or 2 in coverage. 

Polish: Typically aligns to the field as a Sam linebacker, though has some experience working in the boundary. Also stands up some when his defensive front goes to 4-0-4 alignment. Has limited transition quickness to close and recover in coverage. Could grow into an interior second-level defender later in his career. 

Bottom Line: Fordham’s father, Todd, played offensive line at Florida State and in the NFL. While Caden is not an offensive lineman like his father, he does play with the same toughness, ruggedness and motor. The younger Fordham has good length, solid linear speed and shows good quickness to finish. He projects best as an off-ball Sam ‘backer at this point, though could move inside to Will later in his career.