Our MVP had a strong day at the showcase, and the most impressive thing to me continues to be how well Brayden moves at his size. In every phase of the showcase, Brayden proved to me that he is a future college football player. I’m expecting him to repeat this upcoming season as an All-Conference player for sure. Brayden has an offer from Concord University currently, and he should see more interest and offers with a strong summer camp season.

This was a good group of linebackers with nice athleticism and speed in the open field. We’ll talk more about the group during the positional breakdown article, but they were impressive in pass coverage. At his size, Brayden moved very well throughout the entire showcase. I liked his aggressiveness in the Cat/Mouse 1 on 1 period – that is a drill where coaches want linebackers to trust their eyes and get their head across on where the running back is trying to go. That’s something Brayden did well in my opinion. He will be an important piece for Stuart Cramer on both sides of the ball this upcoming season.

Brayden is a very good athlete who is also a basketball player for the Storm, and he shows some impressive speed and agility for his size. With 53 tackles, 7 sacks, and some strong contributions on offense, Brayden is poised for a big senior season on a much-improved Stuart Cramer squad. Brayden can play the off-ball linebacker position, play on the edge as a pass rusher, and even play some running back in some power run-oriented sets on offense. Brayden is starting to get some deserved recruiting attention from college football programs as well.

Once again, another versatile linebacker is on our 704 Junior Bowl candidate list! I observed Brayden at the CFI Carolinas Winter Showcase in December, and the way he moves for a player at his size is impressive. Brayden can play on the edge as a pass rusher or off-ball as a linebacker. Brayden also gives you some value on offense as a tough short-yardage running back who has enough speed in the open field to make some big plays with the ball in his hands. I know he’ll be a big piece of the Stuart Cramer defense next season, and he’s a legitimate candidate for this 704 Junior Bowl team.

A two-way player, Fortenberry is a bit of a linebacker-edge tweener. He usually lines up off the ball, but he’ll get in a two-point stance and rush the passer off the edge as well. He has excellent size and movement skills, and he’s relentless in pursuit of both running backs and when he’s rushing the quarterback.