James Camden aims to complete walk-on journey at NFL Draft

It didn't take James Camden long to know what NFL talent looked like.

A true freshman safety suiting up for his hometown Cincinnati Bearcats, Camden was surrounded by it every waking second, especially in his defensive back room. In that room stood future No. 4 overall NFL Draft selection Sauce Gardner. Coby Bryant inhabited it too. Bryan Cook as well. And you can't forget Darrick Forrest or James Wiggins. And in practice, Camden was pitted against the likes of Alec Pierce, Tre Tucker, and Tyler Scott — a receiver triumvirate where all three members heard their names called on draft day.

That assortment of pro talent translated to rampant winning. During Camden's first two years at Cincinnati, his Bearcats completed undefeated regular seasons and claimed back-to-back American Conference championships. In 2021, they made history as the first-ever American Conference team to crash the College Football Playoff scene.

Cincinnati reveled in the college football spotlight in the early 2020s, serving as a fixture in the rankings and on national television screens. But on a team laden with star talent and household names, Camden quietly lurked in the background as an understudy, carefully observing and awaiting his turn.

"First two years, we have an unbelievable team, unbelievable players, so I'm learning from the best of the best," Camden recalled. "It was really good to be at that age with my introduction to college football to be around so many pros and great coaches as well. And we won championships. We won a lot of football games."

While Cincinnati was reaping the benefits of success, Camden was simply searching for it on a personal level. He was a freshman scout team safety, devoid of a scholarship and marinating in the less glamorous life as a walk-on.

Camden always loved football, but with a diversified portfolio in high school as a tri-sport athlete, he never knew if he would pursue it at the college level or test the waters of baseball or basketball. When the cleats were off, he was a star catcher with Ivy League interest and a standout scorer on the hardwood with a first team all-conference designation.

"I always thought baseball was going to be my ticket to college athletics," Camden said. "And then COVID hit and that's when they talked about canceling the end of basketball season and canceling my baseball season my senior year. I was still in love with football too, so I go to my football coach Evan Dreyer and say, 'Can you reach out to somebody and see if you can find somewhere for me to keep playing football?'"

Roughly 10 minutes of time elapsed before that question was answered. Dreyer reached out to Cincinnati director of recruiting Chad Bowden, who promptly responded. An on-alert Camden already had his Anderson High School film ready to send, and it was then processed by Bowden and Cincinnati defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman on a moment's notice. About 20 minutes later, the two Bearcat staffers were sold.

Camden was recruited as a walk-on safety to his dream school.

Both of Camden's parents attended Cincinnati. His grandfather Doug Rice played running back there in the 1960s. His cousin Rob Rice was a Bearcat tailback in the mid-2010s. Camden, a native Cincinnatian, always had red and black in his bloodstream. Now it was time to shed it on the field.

Except initially, that field wasn't the artifical turf at the century-old Nippert Stadium. Rather, his battle station was the practice field where he received limited opportunities in practice, thus amplifying the magnitude of every rep. Each practice in 2020 and 2021 materialized and vanished, and only one game of experience was accrued during those two conference championship-winning seasons. But after years of showing up endlessly, the local product found an avenue to alter his future for the better — it all originated on the punt block team.

"I'm starting to put pressure on the punter, beating some of the guys, and then you get a chance in the game to be on a punt block team," Camden said. "Then you do well on punt block, then you get a chance to be on kickoff return. You build your way up by continuing to perform and taking advantage of the opportunities I was given. Then I became the 'Core Four' special teams (kickoff, kick return, punt, punt return) guy."

Camden certainly drew eyeballs on his first-ever rep suiting up for the kickoff return team. In a 2022 matchup vs. Temple, he delivered a devastating block on an opposing player, eliciting pure exhilaration from the Bearcat sideline. However, the excitement was short-lived as he was flagged for targeting. Still, the coaching staff lauded his aggressiveness, and that rep opened doors for more opportunity.

When one rung of the ladder was climbed, another rung would instantly appear. It wasn't before long when 2023 arrived and Camden rose to status as the No. 2 WILL linebacker on the depth chart for the Big 12-bound Bearcats, completing the transition from safety. But even with an expanded role in 2023, the newly-minted linebacker strived for more the following offseason, so he transferred to Murray State.

"I was looking for an opportunity to become a starter and a leader on the team, have an opportunity to be put on scholarship and start and play every snap," Camden said. "I wanted to get the most of everything I put the work in for."

Camden's decision paid immediate dividends. At the FCS level, the former Bearcat wasted no time in becoming the heart and soul of the Murray State defense. A team captain, he racked up a team-high 51 tackles, five QB hurries, and four pass breakups in seven games. However, his breakout season came to a screeching halt just past the halfway point due to a shattered wrist.

With one year of eligibility remaining, Camden desired a return to the FBS stage. Inconvenienced by his limited film at Murray State, the linebacker took matters into his own hands and rekindled a connection with former Cincinnati running backs coach Darren Paige, who had since accepted the same position at Western Michigan. And just like his recruitment to Cincinnati five years prior, things moved at warp-speed and Camden found himself a new home in Kalamazoo.

"I used to sit right next to Coach Paige in special teams meetings," Camden said. "We had a good relationship at Cincinnati, and he knew how hard I worked and how far I came... When I sent him my film, Coach Paige stood on a table for me. Then once I got up here on my visit, I saw (head coach Lance) Taylor focuses on and rewards the things I like out of a program in terms of hard work and grit. It really just felt like home."

Western Michigan rode a streak of three-straight losing seasons when Camden arrived. And even with the sixth-year senior on campus, a fourth looked imminent as the Broncos stumbled to an 0-3 start. But signs of potential were evident, as Western Michigan's defense shut out Michigan State in the second half of the opener and subsequently limited North Texas' No. 1 scoring offense to 27 points in regulation — its lowest total of the regular season.

"As a defense, we saw the potential at Michigan State and we saw the potential at North Texas, but both of those games we were pissed off," Camden said. "We wanted to be better. We wanted to hold them to zero. I think when we saw what we could really do as a defense and as a team was after that Toledo game Week 4. We go into MAC play and we're 0-3. It was, 'Is this season gonna go this way, or are we gonna do what we set out to accomplish?'"

In that contest against preseason MAC favorite Toledo, the Broncos erased a 13-0 deficit and emerged victorious, 14-13, in a defensive-driven slugfest, highlighted by Camden's team-high seven tackles. From there, every game was simply a repeat of that Toledo contest as Western Michigan consistently rode a domineering defense to the promiseland. The Broncos rattled off 10 victories in their final 11 outings, holding opponents to 21 points or fewer all 10 triumphs.

Western Michigan finished ninth in the FBS in scoring defense (17.4 points allowed per game), and Camden was the engine behind it. The senior generated a team-best 84 tackles, complemented with four sacks and a forced fumble. He also recovered a fumble in the MAC Championship Game victory over Miami (OH) — Western Michigan's first MAC title in nine years — and subsequently concluded a long and adventurous college career with 10 tackles in the Myrtle Beach Bowl domination of Kennesaw State.

"I finally settled into my position and also cut loose. I stopped trying to think about my job and where I'm supposed to be, and more about 'go get the ball carrier down.' I got better at watching film as the season went on and seeing tendencies and formations. I was able to call more plays out and anticipate more things," Camden said, reflecting on his 2025 season. "I just wish we could have kept playing. I wish we could have played Michigan State again, I wish we could have played all those teams again, because I just think we got continuously better."

Navigating the walk-on lifestyle for four years and then suffering a debilitating injury at Murray State, Camden's on-field action at the college level was more limited than he hoped. But in his lone healthy season as a starting linebacker, he led a MAC championship-winning team in tackles while serving as the green dot communicator on a top 10 scoring defense. Adapting on the fly was always a specialty for the Western Michigan captain, who played under four head coaches and five defensive coordinators which utilized a vast array of schemes.

And adapting will be necessary again. A new environment awaits Camden as he prepares to extend his story to the grand stage of the NFL. Still operating with an eternal walk-on mindset, the linebacker is fully embracing his roots, eager to work on scout teams or provide immediate special teams value, knowing all he needs is a foot in the door to jump-start the engine.

"I always believed I could go to the next level, and I believe I will continuously get better," Camden said. "Knowing that I can continuously get better and throwing me in an environment knowing I can rise to that occasion, that confidence has always been in me. Being a walk-on and overcoming that, finally getting on the field to keep rising and getting better and better, there's no reason to believe that if I get to that next environment, I'm not gonna rise and get better and better."