A friend of mine was out to see Lakeland (Fla.) Christian standout Cade Denhoff on Friday night. Here is his evaluation of the standout DE, who is a priority target for the Irish in the 2021 class:
When building a football player, certain traits just scream certain positions. Well, if someone wanted to generate the model of the perfect defensive end frame, a good starting place would be Class of 2021 standout Cade Denhoff.
From the naked eye, Denhoff is 6-5, 230-pounds. Depending on the publication, one could see Denhoff listed any place between 225 and 235-pounds. Bottom line, he’s long, lean, and capable of adding quite a bit of good weight. Several notes about Denhoff’s physical capabilities will keep college coaches going after him.
First, Denhoff can absolutely explode off the snap. His “get off” is elite. Period. Does not matter that he plays at a small Christian School in Lakeland, FL. Those same physical attributes will apply at any major college program come the fall of 2021. There’s still much more to like about Denhoff’s physical presence.
He possesses the prototypical long arms defensive coordinators love, and Denhoff knows how “rip through” an offensive linemen quite well. As an example, second play from scrimmage this past Friday versus Bishop Verot, Denhoff lined up wide but took an immediate inside move and powered underneath the offensive tackle to earn a sack. Denhoff used his long arms to smack the offensive tackles’ arms out of the way. Combined with his quickness, even the slightest technique advantage allows Denhoff to consistently apply pressure into the backfield. This was even the case during numerous double teams. His lean frame split through several double teams, and used his reach to pulled down ball carriers that many other defenders simply do not possess the physical attributes to accomplish. Which leads to another trait, Denhoff’s tenacity.
You cannot teach a player how to be competitive, nor the desire to dominate. Based on his performance Friday, Denhoff is really competitive. Whether he dominated during the prior play or was an absolute non factor during the prior play, Denhoff went full bore during the next snap. He’s a natural competitor. Gotta love it! What’s amazing derived from how Denhoff kept his cool despite being consistently double teamed and held for much of the evening.
Regardless of the blocking scheme, he went after the ball carrier the same way during the next snap. Denhoff’s relentless pursuit allowed him to be around the ball during several plays that went away from his side of the formation. During several plays, Denhoff would either assist or make a solo tackle despite having to make up ground from behind. It was quite impressive. He’s mature for a mere junior in high school, with an incredible motor to boot. Denhoff could be a special talent at the college level, if a few things happen.
Beyond the obvious needed weight gain, as long as Denhoff continues to hone his craft by way of increasing his knowledge of moves and overall technique, he could be a double-digit sack defensive end as a college sophomore. Yes, as a sophomore. Denhoff is that talented. It would be surprising if he did not gain a good amount of experience as a freshman, even if it came as a designated pass rusher. Denhoff could even be a standup rush linebacker for a 3-4 defense. He’s going to get after the signal caller either in a 4-3 or 3-4 defense; he’s athletic enough to play in either scheme. A few final thoughts about long-term projection.
Denhoff should end up in the 255-to-265-pound range, at least, by the end of his sophomore season in college. One thing for sure, he’s going to be an edge rusher, and he’s the type of talent that major programs covet. The question of whether Denhoff plays weak side or strong side will need to play out, but he’s talented enough that he could possibly play either side. That’s another advantage. Barring something unforeseen, Denhoff should be a guy on the NFL’s radar in four or five years.
When building a football player, certain traits just scream certain positions. Well, if someone wanted to generate the model of the perfect defensive end frame, a good starting place would be Class of 2021 standout Cade Denhoff.
From the naked eye, Denhoff is 6-5, 230-pounds. Depending on the publication, one could see Denhoff listed any place between 225 and 235-pounds. Bottom line, he’s long, lean, and capable of adding quite a bit of good weight. Several notes about Denhoff’s physical capabilities will keep college coaches going after him.
First, Denhoff can absolutely explode off the snap. His “get off” is elite. Period. Does not matter that he plays at a small Christian School in Lakeland, FL. Those same physical attributes will apply at any major college program come the fall of 2021. There’s still much more to like about Denhoff’s physical presence.
He possesses the prototypical long arms defensive coordinators love, and Denhoff knows how “rip through” an offensive linemen quite well. As an example, second play from scrimmage this past Friday versus Bishop Verot, Denhoff lined up wide but took an immediate inside move and powered underneath the offensive tackle to earn a sack. Denhoff used his long arms to smack the offensive tackles’ arms out of the way. Combined with his quickness, even the slightest technique advantage allows Denhoff to consistently apply pressure into the backfield. This was even the case during numerous double teams. His lean frame split through several double teams, and used his reach to pulled down ball carriers that many other defenders simply do not possess the physical attributes to accomplish. Which leads to another trait, Denhoff’s tenacity.
You cannot teach a player how to be competitive, nor the desire to dominate. Based on his performance Friday, Denhoff is really competitive. Whether he dominated during the prior play or was an absolute non factor during the prior play, Denhoff went full bore during the next snap. He’s a natural competitor. Gotta love it! What’s amazing derived from how Denhoff kept his cool despite being consistently double teamed and held for much of the evening.
Regardless of the blocking scheme, he went after the ball carrier the same way during the next snap. Denhoff’s relentless pursuit allowed him to be around the ball during several plays that went away from his side of the formation. During several plays, Denhoff would either assist or make a solo tackle despite having to make up ground from behind. It was quite impressive. He’s mature for a mere junior in high school, with an incredible motor to boot. Denhoff could be a special talent at the college level, if a few things happen.
Beyond the obvious needed weight gain, as long as Denhoff continues to hone his craft by way of increasing his knowledge of moves and overall technique, he could be a double-digit sack defensive end as a college sophomore. Yes, as a sophomore. Denhoff is that talented. It would be surprising if he did not gain a good amount of experience as a freshman, even if it came as a designated pass rusher. Denhoff could even be a standup rush linebacker for a 3-4 defense. He’s going to get after the signal caller either in a 4-3 or 3-4 defense; he’s athletic enough to play in either scheme. A few final thoughts about long-term projection.
Denhoff should end up in the 255-to-265-pound range, at least, by the end of his sophomore season in college. One thing for sure, he’s going to be an edge rusher, and he’s the type of talent that major programs covet. The question of whether Denhoff plays weak side or strong side will need to play out, but he’s talented enough that he could possibly play either side. That’s another advantage. Barring something unforeseen, Denhoff should be a guy on the NFL’s radar in four or five years.
