Brady Hanson is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Arizona College Prep for AZPreps365. 

Cayden Gibson is one of the top defenders for Arizona College Prep, which is impressive considering he never played tackle football until his freshman year.

Gibson was born in Anchorage, Alaska, where he lived for the first seven years of his life, spending most of his time fishing and playing hockey. When he moved to Arizona he went to Weinberg Elementary, and then Ryan Elementary, ending up at ACP for middle school and high school. 

Gibson was never allowed to play tackle football as a kid, so he decided to play flag football as an offensive lineman when he was in sixth grade because not many people were trying out for that position. By high school, Gibson tried out for the football team, connecting with head coach Myron Blueford. 

“I really just tried to get close with the coaches,” Gibson said. “From that point I really tried to showcase what I had to offer, so when I got to seventh grade, eighth grade, I was the older one for the flag football team, so I got to play D-line. At that point I impressed Coach Blue, and so coming here freshman year he already had the idea of putting me on D-line and then at that point I earned my starting spot.”

Gibson isn’t the first member of his family to play for Blueford at ACP, his older brother Kellen did so a couple years before Cayden. Kellen was part of the 2021 class that was the first year of four-year players for ACP, getting to play his final season alongside Cayden.

“He was a trendsetter,” Blueford said. “He had a physicality about him, learned the football IQ aspect as he was here, but he was a culture guy and he set the foundation of what we were going to be moving forward and what we are this year.”

Cayden wears 42 on his jersey because it was the closest number to his brother's number (45), showing the connection between the brothers both on and off the field. However, 42 wasn’t Cayden’s first choice, he initially wanted either 5 or 55 because his birthday is May 5, 2005. After those two weren’t available, Cayden decided to show his connection to his brother by wearing 42, and it has stuck.

While his brother paved the way, Cayden has been one setting the tone on the field. Earlier this season he broke the school record by recording six sacks in one game. The next week he repeated this performance. His presence on the field is so strong that teams have started to run most of their plays to the opposite side, forcing bad plays and making his teammate’s job easier.

“He is like a security blanket for our secondary,” safety Jayden Diaz said. “Our secondary is pretty solid, but it is a sense of security that we have him down there getting pressure on the quarterback.”

Cayden is truly having a breakout season this year as a junior, and it will be exciting to watch what else he has in store for not only the remainder of this season, but his senior season as well.