#48

Kenny Willekes

Former defensive end at Michigan State. 2019: 10.5 sacks, 16 tackles for loss, 78 tackles.

DE · Michigan State · Sr. · #48

6′4″ · 260 lb · Rockford, MI

Minnesota — drafted 2020, Rd 7, Pick 11, #225 overall

The story

Former defensive end at Michigan State. 2019: 10.5 sacks, 16 tackles for loss, 78 tackles.

Drafted round 7 by the Minnesota in 2020.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Four seasons at Michigan State, 25 sacks — drafted at #225 overall by Minnesota.

His career

He barely played early on. Then he did not come off the field.

2020

Drafted by Minnesotaround 7, pick 225

Career arc

Recruit

—

No recruit profile

CFB

College

Michigan State

2016–2019

NFL

NFL Draft

R7 · #225

Minnesota · 2020

Coaching lineage · 2016–2019

1 coach

2016–2019

Mark Dantonio

Michigan State

Played his entire career under Mark Dantonio.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

MinnesotaEntering 7th NFL season

#225Rd 7 · Pick 11

MinnesotaEntering 7th NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2019 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

4 seasons under Mark Dantonio — 27-24 over that span.

2016Michigan State3-9HC: Mark Dantonio · Run-leaning

2017Michigan State10-3HC: Mark Dantonio · Run-leaning

2018Michigan State7-6HC: Mark Dantonio · Balanced

2019Michigan State7-6HC: Mark Dantonio · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: qb hurries (100th percentile). Strength: sacks (99th percentile). Concern: passes defended (19th percentile).

Box-score production (7)

QB hurries#2 / 2688 · 100th pct

Sacks#15 / 2688 · 99th pct

10.5

Tackles for loss#27 / 2688 · 99th pct

16.0

Tackles#210 / 2688 · 92nd pct

Solo tackles#602 / 2688 · 77th pct

Forced fumbles#78 / 721 · 45th pct

Passes defended#1690 / 2688 · 19th 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

2019 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home7g	6.6	1.5	1.0	0.0
Road6g	5.3	0.9	0.6	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-78g	6.9	1.1	0.7	0.0
Weeks 8+5g	4.6	1.4	1.0	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Pat Fitzgerald

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

Awards

Player standing · 2019

Impact starter

Producing measurably more than a replacement-level starter.

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career stats

Season	Team
2019	Michigan State	78	32	16.0	10.5	--	--	--
2018	Michigan State	77	37	20.5	8.0	1	--	--
2017	Michigan State	72	33	14.0	6.5	2	--	--
2016	Michigan State	--	--	0.0	0.0	1	--	--
Career		227	102	50.5	25.0	4	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 5 · 2019

W 40–31

vs Indiana

12 TOT · 5 SOLO · 1 QB HUR

Edged out Indiana at home in a shootout.

With B. Lewerke — 300 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · QBR 85.1 · 78 rush yds (12 car) · J. Hartbarger — 54 AVG · 60 LONG · 4 NO

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2019 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	Note
Wk 1	W 28-7vs Tulsa	7	2	2.5	1.5	—	2.5 TFL
Wk 2	W 51-17vs Western Michigan	5	3	2.0	2.0	—	2 sacks
Wk 3	L 7-10vs Arizona State	7	1	2.0	0.5	—
Wk 4	W 31-10@ Northwestern	3	3	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 5	W 40-31vs Indiana	12	5	0.0	0.0	—	Season-high 12 tackles
Wk 6	L 10-34@ Ohio State	7	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 7	L 0-38@ Wisconsin	5	4	1.0	0.0	—
Wk 9	L 7-28vs Penn State	3	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 11	L 34-37vs Illinois	6	2	1.5	1.5	—
Wk 12	L 10-44@ Michigan	4	3	1.0	1.0	—
Wk 13	W 27-0@ Rutgers	4	1	2.0	1.0	—
Wk 14	W 19-16vs Maryland	6	3	2.5	1.5	—	2.5 TFL
Bowl	W 27-21@ Wake Forest	9	4	1.5	1.5	—
Total		78	32	16.0	10.5	—

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