#40

Eric Ford

Senior linebacker for Army. 2025: 52 tackles, 8 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks.

LB · Army · Sr. · #40

6′3″ · 235 lb · Laurel, MD

CFB Index 73 · #99 of 583 LBsHigh confidenceReturning to Army for 2026

How he plays

Fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.

QB hurries: 97th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

tackles · 2025

8 TFL · 4.5 sacks · 2 PBU

Best game: 6 tackles, 2 TFL, 2 sacks, at UTSA

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 linebacker for Army. 2025: 52 tackles, 8 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Army in 2021.

His career, year by year

Eric Ford

LB · Army · Sr · #40

Fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge. He has spent four seasons in the Army linebacker corps. One game to point at: 8 tackles, 2 TFL against Tarleton State — Week 1, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
seasons on the roster
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

4 seasons under Jeff Monken — 31-20 over that span.

2022Army6-6HC: Jeff Monken · Run-heavy, slow tempo

2023Army6-6HC: Jeff Monken · Run-heavy, slow tempo

2024Army12-2HC: Jeff Monken · Run-heavy

2025Army7-6HC: Jeff Monken · Run-heavy

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

73Quality starter #99 of 583?

High confidenceBreakout7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: qb hurries (97th percentile). Strength: sacks (95th percentile).

Box-score production (7)

QB hurries#69 / 2975 · 97th pct

Sacks#136 / 2975 · 95th pct

4.5

Tackles for loss#198 / 2975 · 93rd pct

8.0

Tackles#550 / 2975 · 81st pct

Solo tackles#744 / 2975 · 74th pct

Passes defended#777 / 2975 · 67th pct

Forced fumbles#36 / 687 · 47th pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	4.7	0.7	0.3	0.3
Road5g	4.8	0.8	0.5	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-75g	4.8	1.1	0.4	0.4
Weeks 8+6g	4.7	0.4	0.4	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Jeff Monken

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Part-time starter

Tackle volume for the position in part-time-starter range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

73 · #99 of 583 LBs

Three-star recruit. Now #99 at the position.

2026 outlook

In the mix for All-AAC

Based on 2025: #10 of 61 American Athletic LBs

How the All-AAC estimate is computed

35% estimated, 95% confidence interval 31–38%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Army	52	25	8.0	4.5	2	--	--
2024	Army	21	14	3.0	2.0	1	--	--
2023	Army	5	1	0.5	0.0	--	--	--
2022	Army	1	1	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		79	41	11.5	6.5	3	--	--

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	L 27-30vs Tarleton State	8	5	2.0	1.0	—	1	Season-high 8 tackles
Wk 4	L 38-45vs North Texas	7	5	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 5	L 6-28@ East Carolina	3	1	1.5	0.0	—	0
Wk 7	W 24-7vs Charlotte	4	2	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 8	L 17-24@ Tulane	2	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 10	W 20-17@ Air Force	7	3	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 11	W 14-13vs Temple	2	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 13	L 25-26vs Tulsa	5	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 14	W 27-24@ UTSA	6	4	2.0	2.0	—	0	2 sacks
Wk 16	L 16-17@ Navy	6	1	0.5	0.5	—	0
Bowl	W 41-16vs UConn	2	2	1.0	0.0	—	1
Total		52	25	8.0	4.5	—	2

How he plays

Play style

Downhill striker who fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

11 games

52Tackles

25Solo

8TFL

4.5Sacks

2Pass def.

0INT

52 tackles. 2 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 8 TFL.

Week 11 sack · 1 PD
Week 11 PD
Week 71 sack
Week 142 sacks
Week 160.5 sacks

Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.

2026 Outlook

Army

Preseason read · May 27

2026 Depth chart

Returning starter

Linebacker · Army

Returning around him

Transfer portal: -2 net (0 in / 2 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

Army · Last season: 7-6 · Talent rank #136 · 2026 recruiting class #138

DNA match

Player DNA

Thumper

Downhill striker who fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Shayne Simon’s 2023 season.

Shayne Simon

90%match

Pittsburgh · 2023

Nicholas Rinaldi

Vanderbilt · 2025

78%

Nolan Smith

Georgia · 2021

75%

Billy Pullen

UL Monroe · 2024

All-Sun Belt

74%

Marist Liufau

Notre Dame · 2023

NFL Rd 3 · Pk 24

73%

Matches Shayne on

Tackle volume

Weight

PD rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Nicholas Rinaldi's senior season at Vanderbilt (2025).

Nicholas Rinaldi

83%match

Vanderbilt · 2025

Kevin Abrams-Verwayne

App State · 2025

All-Sun Belt

81%

Riley Wilson

Arizona · 2025

81%

Brice Bass

Texas State · 2024

79%

Deontae Craig

Iowa · 2024

77%

Matches Nicholas on

Tackle volume

Sack rate

PD rate

Differs from Nicholas on

Hurry rate (lower)

Player DNA

Players who play like Eric Ford

Nicholas Rinaldi

Vanderbilt · 2025

78%

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology