Kenny
Willekes.
Kenny
Willekes.
Michigan St.· 6'3"· 264 lb· 4.87s 40
"Minnesota bet on a walk-on who became Michigan State's all-time TFL leader at No. 225, but a limited athletic profile and injuries confined his NFL career to a rotational role."Pre-draft read
Willekes was a strong-side defensive end in Michigan State's 4-3 front, a 6-3, 264-pound former walk-on who started 38 games and played with his hand in the dirt. His primary trait was motor: he chased plays from the backside, won with active hands and relentless effort, and made 52 tackles for loss over three seasons as a starter.
His secondary trait was run defense, where he set a firm edge, read blocks quickly and shed to make plays in the backfield. As a pass rusher he won more with effort and counters than with bend or burst. His athletic ceiling was limited after a 4.87 40, and his signature was a nonstop engine that produced 26 sacks.
Even-front 4-3 scheme that lets a base end set the edge, two-gap against the run and rush with power on passing downs.
Year 1: rotational run defender and special teams player. Ceiling: base end on early downs in a four-man front.
Wide-nine, speed-based scheme that asks him to win around the edge with burst and bend on every snap.
His effort translated best in a defined run-stopping role.
2020 NFL Draft: Michigan State Spartans DL Kenny Willekes Highlights | B1G Football
Big Ten Network cut-up ahead of the 2020 draft.
Kenny Willekes 2019 Michigan State Highlights ⚔️ || HD
His 10.5-sack senior season.
Kenny Willekes' Road to Recovery | Michigan State | B1G Football
His return from the broken leg suffered in the 2018 bowl game.
Willekes projected as a productive, tough base end whose athletic limits pushed him to Day 3 despite an elite college résumé. Evaluators loved his motor, hand usage and instincts against the run, but questioned whether he had the length and explosiveness to win consistently as an NFL pass rusher.
He walked on at Michigan State in 2015, earned a scholarship and broke out in 2017 with 73 tackles, 15 TFL and seven sacks. As a junior he led the Big Ten with 21 TFL and was named its Defensive Lineman of the Year, then posted 78 tackles, 16 TFL and 10.5 sacks as a senior and won the Burlsworth Trophy. The flags were short arms, a 4.87 40, a lack of bend around the edge and a broken leg that ended his 2018 season in the bowl game.
Most boards viewed him as a mid-to-late Day 3 end whose tape outran his testing. Minnesota took him at No. 225 as a rotational run defender and special teams player, betting his production and effort would carry to the NFL.
- 01
Relentless motor
Chased plays from the backside and never stopped working, finishing with 229 career tackles, a high number for a college end.
- 02
Backfield production
Made 52 tackles for loss at Michigan State, the most in school history, including a Big Ten-leading 21 as a junior in 2018.
- 03
Run defense
Set a firm edge against tight ends and tackles, read blocks quickly and shed to make plays against the run in the backfield.
- 04
Hand usage
Used active, violent hands and a variety of counters to beat blockers, making up for a lack of pure speed off the edge.
- 05
Pass-rush production
Totaled 26 career sacks, including 10.5 as a senior in 2019, showing he could finish when he reached the quarterback.
- 01
Limited athleticism
Ran a 4.87 40, and his lack of explosive first-step burst limited his ceiling as an NFL pass rusher off the edge.
- 02
Short arms
Arm length near 31 inches made it harder to keep longer NFL tackles off his frame and to finish plays at the edge of his reach.
- 03
Lack of bend
Struggled to dip and corner around the edge, which forced him to win with effort and counters rather than speed.
- 04
Injury history
Broke his leg in the 2018 Redbox Bowl, raising medical questions about a player whose game depended on effort and toughness.
Relative Athletic Score (Kent Lee Platte) benchmarks combine/pro-day numbers against every measured prospect at the position since 1987. 10.00 is elite; 5.00 is average.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.87sp50
- Vertical
- 32.5inp50
- Broad jump
- 119inp50
- Three-cone
- 7.39sp50
- Shuttle
- —s
- Bench
- 32repp50
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Michigan State | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2017 | Michigan State | 13 | 73 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 2018 | Michigan State | 13 | 78 | 8.5 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2019 | Michigan State | 13 | 78 | 10.5 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Career | — | 40 | 229 | 26 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
Seasons from Sports-Reference and Tankathon, which agree exactly and sum to 229 tackles, 52 TFL, 26 sacks, four forced fumbles and five fumble recoveries over 40 games. Michigan State's release matches the 229 tackles, 26 sacks and 40 games, crediting 51 TFL.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
The realized outcome: a rotational end who played one active season around injuries.
High-effort, athletically limited Day 3 pick whose motor carried him to a long career.
Productive Big Ten lineman whose athletic limits kept him in a backup role.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Willekes spent his 2020 rookie season on injured reserve, placed there before the season opener. He played in 2021 as a rotational end and special teams player, recording all of his NFL production that season, then missed 2022 on injured reserve after being waived and reverting to the list. Minnesota tendered him in 2023 but waived him in May. He moved to the UFL, playing for the Michigan Panthers in 2024 and 2025 with 7.5 sacks over two seasons and the Columbus Aviators in 2026, with a brief Steelers stint in 2025.
In hindsight the pick returned about what a No. 225 selection usually does. The motor and hand usage that made him a college star were real, but the athletic limits evaluators flagged, combined with injuries in two of his three NFL seasons, kept him from establishing a role. He finished his NFL career with 16 tackles and 2.5 sacks. His strong spring league production suggests he could have been more with better health.