#53

Kalib Fortner

Senior linebacker for Army. 2025: 83 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks.

LB · Army · Sr. · #53

6′1″ · 220 lb · Knoxville, TN

CFB Index 60 · #203 of 583 LBsHigh confidenceReturning to Army for 2026

How he plays

Ranges from hash to hash and makes his own tackles.

Solo tackles: 98th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

tackles · 2025

7.5 TFL · 1.5 sacks

Best game: 11 tackles, 1.5 TFL, at East Carolina

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 linebacker for Army. 2025: 83 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks.

Signed as a 2-star recruit to Army in 2021.
76 tackles in 2024. Then 83 in 2025.

His career, year by year

Kalib Fortner

LB · Army · Sr · #53

Ranges from hash to hash and makes his own tackles. He arrived as a 2-star recruit and has three seasons of production at Army behind him. His first career honor landed in 2024: AAC Defensive Player of the Week. One game to point at: 11 tackles, 1.5 TFL against East Carolina — Week 5, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
recruiting profile
recognition record
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

3 seasons under Jeff Monken — 25-14 over that span.

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

60Quality starter #203 of 583?

High confidence7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: solo tackles (98th percentile). Strength: qb hurries (98th percentile). Concern: passes defended (18th percentile).

Box-score production (7)

Solo tackles#46 / 2975 · 98th pct

QB hurries#41 / 2975 · 98th pct

Tackles#124 / 2975 · 96th pct

Tackles for loss#234 / 2975 · 91st pct

7.5

Sacks#707 / 2975 · 74th pct

1.5

Forced fumbles#36 / 687 · 47th pct

Passes defended#1916 / 2975 · 18th 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 · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	6.2	0.5	0.2	0.0
Road7g	6.6	0.6	0.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-77g	6.0	0.9	0.2	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	6.8	0.2	0.0	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

Starter

Tackle volume for the position at a full-time starter's level.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

60 · #203 of 583 LBs

Two-star recruit. Now #203 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-AAC

Based on 2025: #24 of 61 American Athletic LBs

How the All-AAC estimate is computed

15% estimated, 95% confidence interval 13–17%. 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	83	54	7.5	1.5	--	--	--
2024	Army	76	38	10.0	2.5	3	--	--
2023	Army	55	24	2.5	1.5	--	--	--
Career		214	116	20.0	5.5	3	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2025

W 24–21

at Kansas State

2 TFL · 3 SOLO · 3 TOT

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 3 on the road.

With N. Short — 52 yds · 0 TD · 0 INT · QBR 99.8 · 61 rush yds (10 car) · C. Hellums — 43 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 69.0 · 124 rush yds (41 car) · 2 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	Note
Wk 1	L 27-30vs Tarleton State	6	3	1.5	1.0	—
Wk 2	W 24-21@ Kansas State	3	3	2.0	0.0	—
Wk 4	L 38-45vs North Texas	6	4	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 5	L 6-28@ East Carolina	11	8	1.5	0.0	—	Season-high 11 tackles
Wk 6	W 31-13@ UAB	3	2	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 7	W 24-7vs Charlotte	7	4	1.0	0.0	—
Wk 8	L 17-24@ Tulane	9	6	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 10	W 20-17@ Air Force	8	5	1.0	0.0	—
Wk 11	W 14-13vs Temple	4	3	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 13	L 25-26vs Tulsa	8	5	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 14	W 27-24@ UTSA	5	4	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 16	L 16-17@ Navy	7	5	0.0	0.0	—
Bowl	W 41-16vs UConn	6	2	0.5	0.5	—
Total		83	54	7.5	1.5	—

How he plays

Play style

Ranges from hash to hash and makes his own tackles.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

13 games

83Tackles

54Solo

7.5TFL

1.5Sacks

0Pass def.

0INT

83 tackles. 0 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 7.5 TFL.

Week 11 sack
Week 10.5 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

2026 Depth chart

Projected 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

Sideline-to-Sideline

Ranges from hash to hash and makes his own tackles.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Eugene Asante’s 2023 season.

Eugene Asante

77%match

Auburn · 2023

Chris Rodgers

Tulane · 2025

73%

Kavian Gaither

Sam Houston · 2024

All-Conference USA

72%

Trey Fields

Sam Houston · 2024

71%

Zaire Barnes

Western Michigan · 2021

All-MACNFL Rd 6

70%

Matches Eugene on

Weight

Solo tackle rate

PD rate

Differs from Eugene on

Sack rate (lower)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Austin Moore's junior season at Kansas State (2022).

Austin Moore

82%match

Kansas State · 2022

Trey Fields

Sam Houston · 2024

All-AAC

82%

Kavian Gaither

Sam Houston · 2024

All-Conference USA

81%

Kosi Eldridge

Texas Tech · 2022

78%

Cole Pearce

Ball State · 2023

All-MAC

78%

Matches Austin on

Tackle volume

Solo tackle rate

TFL rate

Differs from Austin on

Hurry rate (higher)

PD rate (lower)

Player DNA

Players who play like Kalib Fortner

Jake St. Andre

Louisiana · 2025

86%

Oscar Moore

UTEP · 2024

79%

Kip Lewis

Oklahoma · 2025

79%

Kyle Louis

Pittsburgh · 2025

79%

Eric Stuart

Temple · 2025

77%

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