Kaden Gebhardt
Kaden Gebhardt
About Kaden
Expert Analysis
Bryan Ault | Prep Redzone Scout
Gebhardt is a head-hunter and Clemson is lucky to land him: the 6-foot-2, 200-pound safety likes to thump and land big hits. As an elite run defender, he displays excellent closing speed and instincts, wasting no time to get downhill in a hurry. His ability to key, read, react and diagnose plays is outstanding, and flashes his excellent football intelligence.
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Read EvaluationOliver West | Prep Redzone Scout
Ohio is one of the most fruitful and fertile recruiting grounds for high school football athletes, and year after year we see a prospect explode on the recruiting trail in quick and noteworthy fashion. For the 2026 class, Olentangy High School’s 6’1, 195 lb. safety Kaden Gebhardt is the current representative of this trend, and although he did receive his first P4 offer in January from West Virginia, I think he still qualifies for this Midwest recruiting feature thanks to the volume of offers he added once the spring rolled around. Since February, Purdue, Indiana, Wisconsin, Duke, Cincinnati, and Oklahoma all have extended offers to the rising junior, who posted 129 tackles, 4 TFLs, 4 PBUs, 3 INTs, 2 FF, and a sack as a sophomore playing Division 1 high school football in Ohio.
An instinctive, dynamic, natural, physical, smooth, and fluid safety and third-level defender, Gebhardt sports loose hips, great timing in his breaks, as he doesn’t waste steps and breaks on the ball with noticeable and effective pace, and is dangerous with the ball in his hands and took some INTs to the crib in athletic fashion. In light of a recent trend of NFL first-round draft picks, I think it’s important to note that Gebhardt is a multi-phase contributor and an explosive and effective returner on special teams where he can show off his burst, vision, footwork, and top-end speed. That aforementioned speed shows up in run defense as well, as he displays eye-catching pursuit and closing speed and is rangy in run support, plus will lay the boom at the contact point. I love watching him run the alley or get downhill to meet RBs behind the LOS in particular. The coverage skills are some of the most impressive I’ve seen scouting Midwesterners this school year, as Gebhardt is an instinctive MOF defender who can gain depth in his backpedal, is patient, and allows route concepts to develop but decisive when reading the QBs and WRs and making a play on the ball, and smoothly inserts himself into passing lanes and made INTs and PBUs on a variety of routes all over the field. Plus, he shows great ball skills, is a natural at undercutting receivers and beautifully plucking the ball out of the air, and can also find paydirt as a blitzer. As a former safety, I came away very impressed with Gebhardt’s skillset, production, athleticism, and dynamic ability at the position. I’ll be very curious to see if Ohio State enters the picture soon.
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Read EvaluationMike Bey | Prep Redzone Scout
Kaden has been having a great Sophomore season in 2023 as he has helped the Olentangy Braves to a 5-1 record where they held opposing offenses to 19 points per game. He plays both Safety positions. Against the pass, he does a great job of locating the ball and uses his good play speed to put himself in position and displays very good hands as he comes away with an interception. Against the run, he quickly reads run/pass, displays good closing speed in pursuit, squares his shoulders while playing with good leverage before making a nice form tackle.
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Read EvaluationJared Luginbill | Prep Redzone Scout
Gebhardt played safety on the Braves defense. In the pass game, he’s very comfortable in space and takes great angles to the ball. He would line up in centerfield and has good ball skills as evidenced by his 4 interceptions on the season. He can also play in the box and does a good job in the run game as well. He does a good job in his run fits and he’s a sound tackler who gets the guy down. I think it’s too early to tell whether his true fit is as a strong or free safety. His versatility will be an asset in how he’s used because coaches can move him around him and the offense will have to account for him when they come to the line of scrimmage.
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