Player Dossier

2018-2022

San 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 disruption score.

Usage Score

6.2

Efficiency

19.4

Consistency

35.1

Season Value

20.8

Career Arc

Value trend by season

Best season by value score: 2018 Postseason · San Diego State

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Snapshot

Career Teams
1
Seasons Tracked
8
Program Path
San Diego State
Peak Game
Peak game by takeover score: UNLV

Scouting Read

Best season and peak-game context are pinned here so the rest of the page can stay analytical without losing the headline story.

Caden McDonald, LB. Best season Best season by value score: 2018 Postseason · San Diego State. Caden McDonald shows a ball-hunting defender profile with 26 disruption score.

Player insights

Lead takeaway

Best season by value score: 2018 Postseason

San Diego State paired 0 primary output with 4.2 efficiency.

Supporting note

2019 Postseason role shape

impact-led usage with 19.4 efficiency.

Supporting note

Career value stayed steady

2022 Regular Season tracked close to the prior stop by season value score.

Supporting note

Peak game by takeover score: Hawai'i

Loss 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.

2019 Postseason · San Diego State

Games

13

Havoc Plays / G

0.8

Efficiency

19.4

Usage

6.2

Consistency

35.1

Best Game by takeover score

Central Michigan

Hover a point or expand a game row to keep the active game context visible here.

Active game

Hover over a point

Hover or select a game to keep its context visible here without the page shifting around.

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.

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Chronological game order.

Game by game trend chart. Central Michigan: 1. Unknown: 0. UCLA: 0.5. New Mexico State: 0. Utah State: 0.5. Colorado State: 2. Wyoming: 0. San José State: 1. UNLV: 1. Nevada: 1. Fresno State: 0. Hawai'i: 4. 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. Central Michigan: 4 by 26.7. Unknown: 2 by 8.3. UCLA: 4 by 21.7. New Mexico State: 1 by 4.2. Utah State: 1 by 9.2. Colorado State: 4 by 36.7. Wyoming: 4 by 16.7. San José State: 2 by 18.3. UNLV: 1 by 14.2. Nevada: 5 by 30.8. Fresno State: 1 by 4.2. Hawai'i: 4 by 56.7. 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.

Wins0.6 · Games = 9 · -1.2 vs Losses
Losses1.8 · Games = 3 · +1.2 vs Wins
First Half0.6 · Games = 7 · -0.6 vs Second Half
Second Half1.2 · Games = 6 · +0.6 vs First Half

Game Log

Dense stat lines with inline explanations and season-linked highlights.

13 games

Featured metric

Havoc Plays

Top game by takeover score

Hawai'i

Best efficiency game

56.7 vs Hawai'i

Result
Sat 12/21vs Central MichiganW 48-1142001
Sun 12/1vs BYUW 13-310000
Sun 11/24@ Hawai'i2+ sacks · Splash gameL 11-1444220
Sat 11/16vs Fresno StateW 17-711000
Sun 11/10vs NevadaL 13-1753100
Sun 10/27@ UNLVW 20-1710001
Sat 10/19@ San José StateW 27-17200010
Sun 10/13vs WyomingW 26-2240000
Sun 10/6@ Colorado StateW 24-10411.500.500
Sun 9/22vs Utah StateL 17-23100.5000
Sun 9/15@ New Mexico StateW 31-1010000
Sat 9/7@ UCLAW 23-14430.5000
Sun 9/1vs Unknown21000

Career Arc

Track team changes, role shifts, and season-to-season movement.

  1. 1

    San Diego State

    2018-2022

    Opening stop

Season Progression

20182018201920192020202120212022
SeasonTeamPrimaryEfficiencyUsageDelta
2018 PostseasonSan Diego State04.20.9
2018 Regular SeasonSan Diego State04.20.90
2019 PostseasonSan Diego State1119.46.211
2019 Regular SeasonSan Diego State1119.46.20
2020 Regular SeasonSan Diego State17.5399.26.5
2021 PostseasonSan Diego State12.523.86-5
2021 Regular SeasonSan Diego State12.523.860
2022 Regular SeasonSan Diego State11.5267.5-1

Signature Performances

Top Games

#1 Featured game

UNLV

Win with backfield disruption leading the way.

5.5

Primary metric

5.5 disruption/tackle impact with 67.9 takeover score.

#2

Hawai'i

5

Primary metric

Win with backfield disruption leading the way.

5 disruption/tackle impact with 63 takeover score.

#3

Unknown

3.5

Primary metric

Game with 3.5 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.

3.5 disruption/tackle impact with 61.8 takeover score.

#4

Hawai'i

4

Primary metric

Loss with backfield disruption leading the way.

4 disruption/tackle impact with 60.1 takeover score.

#5

New Mexico State

3

Primary metric

Win with 3 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.

3 disruption/tackle impact with 54.8 takeover score.

Top Seasons

#1 Season by value score

2018 Postseason · San Diego State

0 primary output · 4.2 efficiency · 0.9 usage

35

#2

2018 Regular Season · San Diego State

35

0 primary · 4.2 efficiency · 0.9 usage

#3

2020 Regular Season · San Diego State

27.9

17.5 primary · 39 efficiency · 9.2 usage

Milestones

4

Impact games

7

Splash games

0

10+ tackle games

Bio, Recruit, and Data Context

Recruit Profile

3★

Class 2017 · Rating 0.8228

Northwest · Justin, TX

Committed To
San Diego State
Commit Date
Jan 1, 2017

Career Facts

1

Career teams

8

Seasons tracked

161

Career Tackles

Data Context

Coverage spans 8 tracked seasons, 48 games, and base opponent context only. Derived metrics fall back to raw production when share or rating context is missing.

Quick Answers

Caden McDonald quick answers

Recruiting profile

3-star recruit

Position
LB
Teams played for
1
Seasons tracked
8
Career tackles
161