The Purdue commit should have a field day against West Catholic. Playing from his off-ball OLB position, I’m expecting Brayden to have several solo tackle opportunities. West Catholic will try to get the ball out into the flat, and Brayden will have to cover a lot of ground, all while avoiding blockers. Brayden will also play a big role in stopping WC’s inside run.

Brayden has always done a great job tackling. He doesn’t only wrap up and bring his guy down, but Brayden does an excellent job driving the ball carrier backward and not allowing any extra yardage.

The #1 linebacker to watch in West Michigan this weekend!

Elite size, great athletic traits, and a ton of experience against elite run offenses.

If you want to be an elite LB in Division 5, you’ve got to stop the run. Against State Championship contenders like Frankenmuth, Sweeney displayed good play speed and pursuit against the outside run. When playing off-ball, he’s shown a ton of promise against the inside run as well. A little slow to react at times, but undoubtedly an athletic, unrelenting linebacker once he diagnoses the play.

The leader of the Grand Rapids Catholic Central defense.

I’ve been a tad critical of Brayden in the past, but one thing I absolutely won’t question is his toughness. Coming out of the gate, Brayden was a very vocal leader and made a few early plays against ND Prep. I especially liked his ability to play sideline-to-sideline as an off-ball mike. This is also a very well-built football player. Strong, quick, and build to withstand consistent contact.

Brayden has earned quite a bit of attention in recent months, even earning some B1G 10 attention. I like Brayden- he’s a tough player, a great leader, and has good athletic traits. I honestly don’t think those D1s would have offered if Brayden wasn’t a phenomenal athlete. Though, I saw a few things in his game against Notre Dame Prep that I didn’t love. Still, that’s one game out of dozens that he’s played. Could Brayden turn out to be the best LB in Michigan? Absolutely. Though, I won’t have him ranked #1 just yet.

Strengths

Weaknesses

Brayden is an interesting prospect. On one hand, I watched him be a sparkplug for his team, hyping everyone up and being an obvious leader when they played ND Prep. On the other hand, as his team began losing, Brayden began to give up and played much slower.
Skill-wise, he’s a good run stopper and great tackler. In close proximity, Brayden has a low missed tackle rate. Does a good job of reading inside runs and filling holes, but little in terms of scraping and attacking for TFLs. Haven’t seen enough in pass coverage. Has GLIAC written all over him.
D2 player.

Right off the bat, I was impressed with Brayden. During pregame, he was the vocal leader who rallied the troops. I loved his energy during the early stages. In addition, it’s obvious that he’s put on a significant amount of muscle. Last time I updated his weight, he was listed at 185. Now he’s 215.

As for his actual play, he was hit and miss. The best, most consistent part of his game was tackling. I saw a lot of missed tackles but only one from Brayden. I even saw Brayden make a few impressive shoestring tackles. Even when he’s not in the best position, he has the focus and strength to grab a ballcarrier’s legs and force him to the ground. I also liked his coverage skills, and I like that he’s utilized in a variety of ways (on-ball, off-ball, Nickel).

The one major element that I did not like was his effort. Throughout the game, I’d say he was playing at 80%. On runs to his side, Brayden did a good job of trying to work through blocks and make a play. On outside runs / screens, I did not like Brayden’s effort most of the time. ND Prep did a great job working through open-field traffic and they broke a lot of tackles, and Brayden would have been a great help if he sprinted to some of those plays instead of assuming his teammates had the tackle. I’m used to a swarming Catholic Central defense, and last night was not it.

I know that Brayden plays a major role for this Catholic Central squad. I think he’s primarily a linebacker, but I’m wondering if he’ll also play offense. Brayden has already put up some tape this season, and I like what I’ve seen so far from his outside linebacker position. Bradyen seems very reactive, decently aggressive, and is a great outside run-stopper.

I’ll have Brayden circled on my roster, and I can’t wait to watch him closely during a drive or two!