Montana State safety Caden Dowler was named the Big Sky Conference preseason defensive MVP this past weekend, which is a testament to his standout 2025 campaign.
It was last year that Dowler finally was able to showcase what he's capable of when fully healthy.
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"I don't really feel sorry for myself, because everyone is going to get hurt at some point and I'm pretty lucky to be where I'm at doing what I'm doing," Dowler told MTN Sports. "You just attack (the rehab) and just go after it day by day and really take it one day at a time."
Dowler had both knees scoped entering his freshman year at MSU and wound up playing eight games primarily on special teams. Then he lost two years to ACL injuries, as his left knee gave him troubles in consecutive years.
But time on the sidelines still proved beneficial.
“I credit a lot of it to Rylan Ortt — 99% of the game was played in his brain," Dowler said. "He really relied on what he knew the other team was going to do. I just tried to take as much away from him as I possibly could. Sit in the film room as long as possible, as it gave me a lot of time to really study."
Maybe the biggest honor Dowler received this offseason is being the next Bobcat to wear the legacy No. 41 jersey, following in the footsteps of former Billings West teammate Paul Brott, who wore the number last season.
“It's so cool. The guys that wore it — Brody (Grebe), Paul (Brott), Nolan Askelson — he's one of my favorite humans on this earth. He's someone I looked up to as bigger than life when I was a freshman and sophomore, and he always treated me so good," Dowler said.
Dowler and Montana State fire up their FCS title defense on Aug. 29 against Big Sky newcomer Utah Tech.
