CFB Zeitgeist Score
84
All-Conference in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 91st percentile.
Caden Fordham
Below the discourse floor — the honest stats-only state.
143 TACKLES · 3.5 SACKS
2026 Outlook
Returning to NC State for 2026
2026 Depth chart
Returning starter
Linebacker · NC State
Returning around him
- 95% of 2024 offensive production back (Strong continuity)
- 2 NC State players drafted to NFL
- Transfer portal: -2 net (20 in / 22 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
NC State · Last season: 8-5 · Talent rank #45 · 2026 recruiting class #34
LB · NC STATE · ACC
Caden Fordham
- 4
- #10
- 6-1 | 232 lb
- Ponte Vedra, FL
Heisman Heat
#11681
<1% win probability
Fan Belief
Awaiting
Player-specific FI not yet ingested. Falls back to team mood below.
Respect Gap
Awaiting
Coming online with player-level FI.
Reality Gap
Awaiting
Coming online with player-level FI.
ACCOLADE PROBABILITY
Heisman
<1%
TOP LB AWARD
Butkus
—
CONSENSUS
All-American
—
Player Standing · 17 rungs
Tier 2 · StarterR07 · Impact starter
Impact starter. Producing measurable value above replacement.
Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Career arc · Season-by-season Standing
4 seasons on the ladder
2021
NC State · LB
—
2022
NC State · LB
—
2023
NC State · LB
—
★
2025
NC State · LB
R09 · All-Conference HM / 2nd team
Recognized
Career Arc
HS
Recruit
★★★
CFB
College
NC State
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Identity & Role
The durable bio layer: position, size, hometown, and roster role.
Recruiting Pedigree
How big the prospect was before college, and whether the later career arc beat that expectation.
| Class | Profile | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 3-star | 0.8763 | No. 559 recruit | HighSchool | NC State |
Transfer Arc
Portal movement changes role, context, and perception. This keeps that path in one place.
| Season | Move | Context |
|---|---|---|
| No transfer portal moves on file for this player. | ||
Heisman Lens · 2024 Season · Final
Where the player landed at the end of the listed season — final nowcast rank, win/finalist/ballot probabilities, and the cleanest official Heisman placement on file.
HIGH CONFIDENCE· through week 16Heisman Futures
Not yet listed on major futures markets.
No achievements unlocked yet this season.
Selector Grid · 2025
AP—
FWAA—
AFCA—
WCFF—
SN—
SI—
NIL · Recruiting · NFL Draft
Market value, pedigree & pro outcome
Recruit stars
★★★☆☆
to NC State
Composite
0.8763
#559 national
Today’s Hot-Take
The Hot-Take engine fires when this player’s percentile profile crosses a defensible threshold (top 10% in a cohort, 100+ snap sample). When it’s quiet, the model is honoring its “must be defensible” rule.
Anti-Take
PENDINGThe contrarian read fires when the rules-engine detects a stat that complicates the Hot-Take. Quiet here means the model hasn’t found a defensible counter yet — not that one doesn’t exist.
The Room on Caden Fordham
Fan sentiment · Awaiting signal
The Room reads fan conversation around a player — who’s talking, what they believe, and how that shifts. It publishes once weekly volume rebuilds; for most players that’s in-season, when game-week chatter spikes.
Cohort divergence map
Cohort divergence reads how different fanbases talk about this player. Returns once weekly mentions clear the publish floor.
Rival Radar
How rival fanbases talk about Caden Fordham
No rival-bucket mentions in the current season.
Signature Story
Awaiting candidate metric
He hasn't written his page yet — we'll start filling it in when there are enough snaps to rank against his peers.
Signature Moment
No signature moment on the ledger yet.
Returns once this player puts together a multi-game body of work — single-game flashes alone don't clear the bar.
Season Pace · Projection
Where the defensive totals stand
Through 13g
143Tackles
9.5Tackles for loss
3.5Sacks
Per game
11Tackles
0.7Tackles for loss
0.3Sacks
Final
143Tackles
9.5Tackles for loss
3.5Sacks
✓ Hit 80-tackle season · finished with 143.
✓ Hit 100-tackle season · finished with 143.
Why this is a rare defensive case
The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.
Caden Fordham is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on NC State's defense, with 3.5 sacks, 9.5 tackles for loss, and 2 interceptions through the current loaded season. For a defender, the question is never just production; it is whether elite disruption and team context can become nationally undeniable.
2025 Season · Final
Traditional stats first. Advanced context underneath.
Last season
DEF season snapshot
2025 season snapshot | final
2025 season snapshot | finalData: CFBD player stats + local Heisman modelPeer context: same position + same level
Player identity What kind of player is this?
30-second read
What kind of player is this?
High-disruption defender | Coverage splash | High-volume tackler against FBS defenders.
2025 Season · Final
2025 season snapshot | final
Tackling & Disruption
TOT
143 100th
SOLO
60 100th
TFL
9.5 97th
SACK
3.5 95th
QBH
4 85th
Coverage & Takeaways
PD
3 76th
INT
2 87th
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 13 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 24-17vs East Carolina | 11 | 5 | 2.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 35-31vs Virginia | 9 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 34-24@ Wake Forest | 6 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 4 | L 33-45@ Duke | 11 | 5 | 1.0 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 21-23vs Virginia Tech | 15 | 8 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 15 tackles |
| Wk 6 | W 56-10vs Campbell | 7 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | L 7-36@ Notre Dame | 10 | 2 | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | L 34-53@ Pittsburgh | 8 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | W 48-36vs Georgia Tech | 15 | 6 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | L 7-41@ Miami | 11 | 7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 21-11vs Florida State | 15 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | W 42-19vs North Carolina | 12 | 5 | 1.5 | 1.0 | — | 2 | |
| Bowl | W 31-7vs Memphis | 13 | 5 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 143 | 60 | 9.5 | 3.5 | 2 | 3 |
Season-by-season tables Career rows + per-season box score
Traditional history
Traditional Stats
Season rows up top, career context at the bottom.
Season context · Team result + system
2021NC State9-3HC: Dave Doeren · Balanced
2022NC State8-5HC: Dave Doeren · Balanced
2023NC State9-4HC: Dave Doeren · Run-leaning
2025NC State8-5HC: Dave Doeren · Balanced
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context
Advanced metrics second
Advanced Metrics
Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.
TFL, sacks, and QB hurries are grouped together because defensive Heisman cases are usually built on visible havoc, not on tackle counts alone.
Pass breakups, interceptions, and forced fumbles matter because national awards voters respond to plays that change possessions and highlight reels.
Every percentile is compared against players at the same position and level, so an FBS quarterback is judged against FBS quarterbacks, not the whole sport.
The top tables stick to the stats fans already know from broadcasts and box scores. Advanced context is pushed underneath instead of replacing the basics.
Open full stat explorer
| Group | Metric | Value | Rank | Pct | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defense | Total tackles | 143 | #2/4942 | 100th pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | TFL | 9.5 | #126/4972 | 97th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Sacks | 3.5 | #233/4972 | 95th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Interceptions | 2 | #114/869 | 87th pct | Takeawaysvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Pass breakups | 3 | #521/2184 | 76th pct | Coveragevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | QB hurries | 4 | #291/1878 | 85th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Solo tackles | 60 | #21/4584 | 100th pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | INT return yards | 55 | #93/578 | 84th pct | Takeawaysvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | INT return avg | 27.5 | #122/578 | 79th pct | Takeawaysvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Fumbles recovered | 1 | #103/736 | 86th pct | Takeawaysvs FBS DEF |
| Ball Security | Fumbles lost | 0 | #1/773 | 100th pct | Turnoversvs FBS DEF |
Player Standing
Universal 17-step ladder. Tier pills below; accolade streams nested.
ALL-CONF HM
On-team2-deepStartingRecognizedEliteApex
ALL-CONF HM · Rung 9 of 16
Why he’s here
All-Conference honorable mention / 2nd team — the recognition has started.
What moves him up
A best-at-position run lifts to 1st team.
What moves him down
A back-end conference finish drops out of the honor list.
Accolade streams
Status—Awaiting tracker
The Butkus award tracker integrates per-week probability once a dedicated scraper for this award lands. Confirmed past winners and finalists for this player will surface here.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 13 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home8g | 12.1 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| Road5g | 9.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
Win vs Loss
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins8g | 11.0 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Losses5g | 11.0 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-78g | 10.2 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 12.2 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.4 |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the LB cohort
84All-Conference
Elite: tackles (99th). Strength: solo tackles (99th).
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Advanced Savant · LB · 2024
Percentile Card
Advanced opponent-adjusted percentile bars are coming soon for this player.
P4G5All FBS
Advanced Savant
Opponent-adjusted advanced metrics with a cohort filter.
Advanced opponent-adjusted metrics are coming soon for this player. Selected cohort: P4.
Peer Comparator · Fingerprint match
Three closest profiles by box-rate percentile
Caden FordhamNC StateMatt RoseStanford· 97% simCade UluaveCalifornia· 96% simRasheem BilesPittsburgh· 96% sim
Tackles
Solo tackles
Tackles for loss
Sacks
QB hurries
Passes defended
Interceptions
Forced fumbles
Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.
Player DNA
The Every-Down Linebacker
Leads the team in tackles and rarely leaves the field.
LB
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Matt Salopek’s 2023 season.
Matt Salopek
85%match
All-MAC
#2
Jackson Mitchell
82%
#3
Wayne Matthews III
All-Sun Belt
78%
#4
Kaleb Elarms-Orr
NFL Rd 4
76%
#5
Bryce Boettcher
All-Big TenNFL Rd 4
73%
Matches Matt on
PD rate
TFL rate
Tackle volume
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a graduate, his production profile tracks closest to Quinton Urwiler's graduate season at Northern Illinois (2025).
Quinton Urwiler
75%match
All-MAC
#2
Jayden McDonald
73%
#3
Jacob Rodriguez
NagurskiBednarikButkusNFL Rd 2 · Pk 11
69%
#4
Jordan Stringer
68%
#5
Jay Higgins
Consensus All-American
66%
Matches Quinton on
Weight
PD rate
Sack rate
Differs from Quinton on
Tackle volume (higher)
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Dave Doeren
Pass share
49.7%
411 pass / 416 run
Plays / game
63.6
13 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
6.5%
307 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Coaching Lineage · 2021–2025
1 coach2021
Dave Doeren
NC State
2022
Dave Doeren
NC State
2023
Dave Doeren
NC State
2025
Dave Doeren
NC State
Played his entire career under Dave Doeren.
Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster
Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.
HometownPonte Vedra, FL
Height6'1"
Weight232 lb
Class4
PositionLB
Jersey10
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamNC State
ConferenceACC
Joined2025
Career arc5 season(s)
Trophy Case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
🎖
ALL-CONFERENCE
All-Conf mention (2025)
All-ACC
Trophy Case · Detail
Every honor on the ledger, broken out by stream and selector.
1 all-conference honor
Conference-level recognition helps anchor whether a player is merely statistically loud or actually viewed as elite within his competitive lane.
Honors Timeline
Season-end distinction and week-by-week recognition on one timeline.
| Season | Honor | Scope | Team / Selector | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | All-ACC | all_conference | NC State | ACC | LB |
Heisman By Year
Modeled rank and official finish by season.
| Season | Team | Role | Latest Model | Forecast | Win | Finalist | Official Finish | Points | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | NC State | LB4 | #11681 | #11748 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W16 snapshot | ACC |
| 2023 | NC State | LB4 | #6654 | #6906 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W19 snapshot | ACC |
| 2022 | NC State | LB4 | #9825 | #9616 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W20 snapshot | ACC |
| 2021 | NC State | LB4 | #8810 | #8527 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W20 snapshot | ACC |
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.
| Season | Team | Conference | Pos | Class | Bio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | NC State | ACC | LB | 4 | No. 10 | 6-1 | 232 lb | Ponte Vedra, FL |
| 2024 | NC State | ACC | LB | 4 | No. 10 | 6-1 | 232 lb | Ponte Vedra, FL |
| 2023 | NC State | ACC | LB | 4 | No. 10 | 6-1 | 232 lb | Ponte Vedra, FL |
| 2022 | NC State | ACC | LB | 4 | No. 10 | 6-1 | 232 lb | Ponte Vedra, FL |
| 2021 | NC State | ACC | LB | 4 | No. 10 | 6-1 | 232 lb | Ponte Vedra, FL |