PITTSBURG, Ks. – Former Webb City Cardinal and Pitt State Gorilla, Kaden Roy, has declared for the 2022 NFL draft. He announced the news on Saturday.
“I knew that I wanted to do this and pursue this a couple weeks ago,” Roy says. “On Saturday, I decided to make a formal statement. People started hitting me up to say congratulations. I was pretty happy to finally get it out there. It made it more realistic. Now, it’s the real deal and it’s time to get to work.”
Roy is ready to take on the challenge.
“My Coaches and teammates have encouraged me throughout the year,” Roy says, “It hadn’t really been a thought yet, but the way that we watch film and we studied, I saw that my football IQ started getting better this year. I really started looking at the x’s and o’s and the coaches helped with that.”
Roy moved from linebacker to defensive end for his final season at Pitt State. He recorded 68 tackles, tied for second most on the team. He had 4.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and a forced fumble. Roy earned second team all-MIAA honors. He’s getting back to work, so he can put himself in the best possible position come draft day.
“I’m going to train in Oklahoma City,” Roy says. “I’m going to work on getting bigger, faster and stronger. My first step as a defensive end needs to be more explosive. That is something I’m really going to focus on in the next couple of weeks.”
He’s committed to the game and to pursing his dream and is eager to prove himself.
“I’m somebody that’s very passionate about the game,” Roy says. “I take it very seriously. I think you can tell just by the way I play on the field. All I need is a chance. All I need is for somebody to get me in their camp or have me work out for them or do drills. Whatever I need to do so that I can show them what I can do and what kind of player they’re getting out of me.”
Roy credits Pitt State for helping him prepare for the next level.
“Pitt State has been awesome,” Roy says. “There’s a lot of good player development going on and that’s something that’s helped me. The player development at Pitt State is huge and the care for the program in this community is next to none. It’s really exciting to represent Pitt.”
As he tries to make the jump, Roy is turning to some former high school teammates for guidance. Zach Davidson and Trystan Colon are current NFL players who graduated with Roy from Webb City.
“I talked to Trystan and Zach a little bit and asked them questions about the process,” Roy says. “I don’t know a lot about it. They broke it down for me and it really helped. They’ve been huge and I’ve been able to lean on them. They’ve given me some great advice. I didn’t even realize until last week when somebody said that if I end up making it that will be three guys that played on the same team that are playing in the NFL. That’s huge. That’s awesome for Webb and it says a lot about the program and coach Rod.”
Roy also has company from Pitt State teammates Jalen Martin and Dallis Flowers. Both, are also trying to get their shot in the NFL.
“It’s more relaxing to know that somebody is going through the same exact thing,” Roy says. “It’s going to be really cool to see how they do.”
Roy is excited and hopeful to continue to represent the four-state area.
“Representing my home is something really important to me,” Roy says. “Staying in the area has been huge. It almost feels like I’m carrying something more with me and it means a little more to represent my hometown through this whole thing.”
The NFL draft will take place on April 28th-30th.
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