Usage / Role
90%
Featured defensive role
lowfeatured
Player Dossier
2018-2022San Diego State
Caden McDonald
LB • 6'3" • 235 lbs • Haslet, TX, USA
Ball-hunting defenderSplash play profile
Caden McDonald shows a ball-hunting defender profile with 26.9 disruption score.
Impact Production
100
Top-tier box-score impact for a linebacker
lowelite
Reliability
61
Reliable weekly contributor
lowhigh
Star Power
87
Elite ceiling indicators
limitedstar
Career Arc
Value trend by season
Best season by Season Value: 2020 Regular Season · San Diego State
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Snapshot
- Career Teams
- 1
- Unique Seasons
- 5
- Program Path
- San Diego State
- Peak Game
- Peak game by takeover score: UNLV
Player Story
Caden McDonald built his college career from 2018 through 2022 as a linebacker from Haslet, TX wearing No. 54, spending time with San Diego State. The clearest part of Caden McDonald's career was his defensive...
Read the story3★
- Committed To
- San Diego State
- Commit Date
- Jan 1, 2017
Caden McDonald, LB. Best season Best season by Season Value: 2020 Regular Season · San Diego State. Caden McDonald shows a ball-hunting defender profile with 26.9 disruption score.
Stat Footprint
Career production snapshot
- Tackles
- 161
- TFL
- 30
- Sacks
- 12.5
- QB hurries
- 8
- Passes defended
- 8
- Touchdowns
- 2
Quick Answers
Caden McDonald quick answers
- Latest team and position
- San Diego State · LB
- Career Tackles
- 161
- Tracked sample
- 5 unique seasons · 8 entries · 48 games
- Best season
- 2020 Regular Season · San Diego State
- Top game
- UNLV
- Recruit profile
- 3-star · Northwest · San Diego State
- High school pipeline
- Northwest · 10 FBS recruits · 0 drafted players
- Latest roster
- No. 54 · Senior
- 2022 Tackles rank
- 41 tackles · LB 346th (top 28%) · Mountain West 77th (top 15%) · National 809th (top 14%)
Season Ledger
Crawlable season-by-season stats
| Season | Team | Games | Tackles | TFL | Sacks | QB Hur | PD | TD | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 Postseason | San Diego State | 2 | 1 | - | 0 | - | - | 0 | 37.1 |
| 2018 Regular Season | San Diego State | 2 | 1 | - | 0 | - | - | 0 | 37.1 |
| 2019 Postseason | San Diego State | 13 | 4 | - | 0 | - | 1 | 0 | 38.8 |
| 2019 Regular Season | San Diego State | 13 | 30 | 5.5 | 2.5 | - | 1 | 2 | 38.8 |
| 2020 Regular Season | San Diego State | 8 | 34 | 10 | 4.5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 62.7 |
| 2021 Postseason | San Diego State | 14 | 2 | - | 0 | - | - | 0 | 53.8 |
| 2021 Regular Season | San Diego State | 14 | 48 | 7 | 3.5 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 53.8 |
| 2022 Regular Season | San Diego State | 11 | 41 | 7.5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 44.8 |
Related Context
Keep exploring Caden McDonald
Caden McDonald played LB for San Diego State. Across 5 tracked seasons, Caden McDonald recorded 161 tackles and 2 touchdowns. His top tracked season came in 2021 with San Diego State.
Player insights
Lead takeaway
Best season by value score: 2020 Regular Season
San Diego State paired 20.5 primary output with 40.2 efficiency.
Supporting note
2020 Regular Season role shape
impact-led usage with 40.2 efficiency.
Supporting note
Career value cooled off
2022 Regular Season fell back from the prior stop by season value score.
Supporting note
Peak game by takeover score: UNLV
Win with backfield disruption leading the way. It landed in the 100th percentile of the selected season.
Analysis workspace
Season Workbench
Filter the strongest season sample, inspect game-level shape, and then drop into the full log without losing the story of the year.
Season Explorer
Understand the selected season before dropping into the full game log.
2020 Regular Season · San Diego State
Games
8
Havoc Plays / G
2.6
Efficiency
40.2
Usage
9.8
Consistency
28.8
Best Game by takeover score
UNLV
Hover a point or expand a game row to keep the active game context visible here.
Active game
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Game-by-Game Trend
Follow how the selected stat changes from one game to the next. Spikes mark standout outings, while dips show quieter weeks.
Chronological game order.
Game by game trend chart. UNLV: 7.5. Utah State: 1.5. San José State: 0. Hawai'i: 5. Nevada: 1. Colorado: 1. Colorado State: 4.5. BYU: 0
Volume vs Efficiency
Each dot is a game. Farther right means the player carried more of the workload, and higher means they were more efficient with those chances.
Low volumeHigh quality
High volumeHigh quality
Low volumeLower quality
High volumeLower quality
Volume on the x-axis, quality on the y-axis.
Volume versus efficiency scatter chart. UNLV: 8 by 83.3. Utah State: 3 by 27.5. San José State: 3 by 12.5. Hawai'i: 7 by 79.2. Nevada: 3 by 22.5. Colorado: 5 by 30.8. Colorado State: 4 by 61.7. BYU: 1 by 4.2
Split Comparison
Compare how this player performed across different situations. "Games" shows how many matchups are included in each split.
Wins4.6 · Games = 4 · +4.1 vs Losses
Losses0.5 · Games = 4 · -4.1 vs Wins
Game Log
Dense stat lines with inline explanations and season-linked highlights.
8 games
Featured metric
Havoc Plays
Top game by takeover score
UNLV
Best efficiency game
83.3 vs UNLV
| Result | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun 12/13 | @ BYU | L 14-28 | 1 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sun 12/6 | vs Colorado StateSplash game | W 29-17 | 4 | 3 | — | 2.50 | 0 | — | 2 | — | — |
| Sat 11/28 | @ Colorado | L 10-20 | 5 | 3 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 11/21 | @ Nevada | L 21-26 | 3 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | — | — |
| Sat 11/14 | vs Hawai'i2+ sacks · Splash game | W 34-10 | 7 | 3 | — | 3 | 2 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 11/7 | vs San José State | L 17-28 | 3 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sun 11/1 | @ Utah State | W 38-7 | 3 | 1 | — | 0.50 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sun 10/25 | vs UNLV2+ sacks · Splash game | W 34-6 | 8 | 2 | — | 3 | 2.50 | — | 0 | — | — |
Player Story
Caden McDonald story
Caden McDonald built his college career from 2018 through 2022 as a linebacker from Haslet, TX wearing No. 54, spending time with San Diego State. The clearest part of Caden McDonald's career was his defensive production: 161 tackles, 30 tackles for loss, 12.5 sacks, and 2 interceptions across 48 career games in the available record. His largest box-score season came in 2021 with San Diego State. Those numbers show where he fit, how often the ball or action found him, and how his role developed over time.
Defensive careers can be hard to read from one number, but Caden McDonald's production has multiple signals. With 48 career games in the available record, his career has enough shape to show both opportunity and production across San Diego State.
The arc is straightforward: Caden McDonald moved through the depth chart, found a larger role, and turned that opportunity into production that can be understood through standard football numbers.
Career Arc
Track team changes, role shifts, and season-to-season movement.
- 1
San Diego State
2018-2022
Opening stop
Season Value Progression
20182018201920192020202120212022
| Season | Team | Primary | Efficiency | Usage | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 Postseason | San Diego State | 0 | 4.2 | 0.9 | — |
| 2018 Regular Season | San Diego State | 0 | 4.2 | 0.9 | 0 |
| 2019 Postseason | San Diego State | 11 | 19.4 | 5.7 | 11 |
| 2019 Regular Season | San Diego State | 11 | 19.4 | 5.7 | 0 |
| 2020 Regular Season | San Diego State | 20.5 | 40.2 | 9.8 | 9.5 |
| 2021 Postseason | San Diego State | 16.5 | 26.7 | 6.5 | -4 |
| 2021 Regular Season | San Diego State | 16.5 | 26.7 | 6.5 | 0 |
| 2022 Regular Season | San Diego State | 12.5 | 26.9 | 7.7 | -4 |
Signature Performances
Top Games
#1 Featured game
vs UNLV
Week 8 · W 34-6 · Conference game
Win with backfield disruption leading the way.
7.5
Havoc Plays
94.4 takeover
7.5 disruption/tackle impact with 94.4 takeover score.
#2
vs Idaho State
Week 2 · W 38-7
3.5
Havoc Plays
89.4 takeover
Win with 3.5 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
3.5 disruption/tackle impact with 89.4 takeover score.
#3
@ Hawai'i
Week 13 · L 11-14 · Conference game
4
Havoc Plays
85.6 takeover
Loss with backfield disruption leading the way.
4 disruption/tackle impact with 85.6 takeover score.
#4
vs New Mexico State
Week 1 · W 28-10
3
Havoc Plays
83.6 takeover
Win with 3 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
3 disruption/tackle impact with 83.6 takeover score.
#5
vs Hawai'i
Week 11 · W 34-10 · Conference game
5
Havoc Plays
82 takeover
Win with backfield disruption leading the way.
5 disruption/tackle impact with 82 takeover score.
Top Seasons
#1 Season by Season Value
2020 Regular Season · San Diego State
20.5 primary output · 40.2 efficiency · 9.8 usage
62.7
#2
2021 Postseason · San Diego State
53.8
16.5 primary · 26.7 efficiency · 6.5 usage
#3
2021 Regular Season · San Diego State
53.8
16.5 primary · 26.7 efficiency · 6.5 usage
Milestones
11
Impact games
14
Splash games
0
10+ tackle games
Next best actions
Keep exploring Caden McDonald
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