Kyle Kennard

Former edge rusher at South Carolina. 2024: 11.5 sacks, 16.5 tackles for loss, 29 tackles.

EDGE · South Carolina · Sr. · #5

6′5″ · 254 lb · Atlanta, GA

CFB Index 92 · #10 of 426 edge rushersMedium confidenceConsensus AALos Angeles — drafted 2025, Rd 4, Pick 23, #125 overall

Recruiting

3★

WDE recruit

No. 804 nationally · Signed with Georgia Tech

Statement game8 tackles · 4 TFL · 4 sacksat Wake Forest (FBS) · W 30-16

Top 0.1% sacks game since 2021.

Kennard is good but needs to cool his headr/CFB game thread · ▲ 5His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former edge rusher at South Carolina. 2024: 11.5 sacks, 16.5 tackles for loss, 29 tackles.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Georgia Tech in 2020.
Transferred from Georgia Tech to South Carolina in 2024.
Drafted round 4 by the Los Angeles in 2025.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at South Carolina, 24 sacks, a Consensus All-American season (2024) — drafted at #125 overall by Los Angeles.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

20203 games

Signed with Georgia Tech3-star out of Riverwood

202411 games

The role got bigger.

Entered the portal
All-America7 selectors
Nagurskiwinner
SEC Defensive Player of the Yearwinner
All-SECfirst

2025

Drafted by Los Angelesround 4, pick 125

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#804 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2020–2024

NFL

NFL Draft

R4 · #125

Los Angeles · 2025

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

11 honors · 2 categories

🏆

ALL-AMERICA · CONSENSUS

Consensus AA (2024)

6 first-team selectors

🥈

ALL-SEC · 1ST TEAM

All-SEC 1st team (2024)

Coaching lineage · 2020–2024

2 coaches

2020

Will Muschamp

South Carolina

2021–2024

Shane Beamer

South Carolina

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Will Muschamp → Shane Beamer. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

Los AngelesEntering 2nd NFL season

#125Rd 4 · Pick 23

Los AngelesEntering 2nd NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2024 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2020Georgia Tech3-7HC: Geoff Collins · Run-leaning

2021Georgia Tech3-9HC: Geoff Collins · Run-leaning

2022Georgia Tech5-7HC: Brent Key · Balanced

2023Georgia Tech7-6HC: Brent Key · Run-leaning

2024South Carolina9-4HC: Shane Beamer · Run-heavy

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

92All-America level #10 of 426?

Medium confidence7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: sacks (100th percentile). Strength: tackles for loss (100th percentile).

Box-score production (7)

Sacks#8 / 2892 · 100th pct

11.5

Tackles for loss#13 / 2892 · 100th pct

16.5

QB hurries#22 / 2892 · 99th pct

Solo tackles#993 / 2892 · 65th pct

Tackles#1432 / 2892 · 49th pct

Passes defended#1155 / 2892 · 49th pct

Forced fumbles#55 / 700 · 46th 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

2024 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home7g	2.6	1.5	0.9	0.1
Road4g	2.8	1.5	1.2	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	3.0	2.1	1.2	0.2
Weeks 8+5g	2.2	0.8	0.8	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Shane Beamer

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

Awards

Player standing · 2024

Consensus All-American

First team on a majority of the recognized selector lists.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

92 · #10 of 426 edge rushers

Three-star recruit. Now #10 at the position.

Selector Grid · 2024

AP—

FWAA—

AFCA—

WCFF—

SN—

SI—

Named Consensus All-American — recognized on 3+ of the 5 NCAA-recognized selector lists.

Career stats

Season	Team
2024	South Carolina	29	21	16.5	11.5	1	--	--
2023	Georgia Tech	49	29	11.0	6.0	--	1	--
2022	Georgia Tech	36	19	4.5	2.0	--	--	--
2021	Georgia Tech	15	5	3.5	2.0	--	--	--
2020	Georgia Tech	7	5	2.5	2.5	--	--	--
Career		136	79	38.0	24.0	1	1	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 10 · 2024

W 44–20

vs Texas A&M

3 TOT · 2 SOLO · 1 REC

Dominant 24-point win at home against Texas A&M.

With L. Sellers — 244 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · QBR 86.5 · 106 rush yds (15 car) · 1 TD · R. Sanders — 144 rush yds (20 car) · 2 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2024 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 23-19vs Old Dominion	5	4	4.5	2.5	—	0	2.5 sacks
Wk 2	W 31-6@ Kentucky	1	1	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 3	L 33-36vs LSU	3	2	2.5	1.5	—	0	2.5 TFL
Wk 4	W 50-7vs Akron	2	1	1.5	0.5	—	1
Wk 6	L 3-27vs Ole Miss	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 7	L 25-27@ Alabama	7	6	3.0	2.0	—	0	Season-high 7 tackles
Wk 8	W 35-9@ Oklahoma	2	1	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 10	W 44-20vs Texas A&M	3	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 11	W 28-7@ Vanderbilt	1	1	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 12	W 34-30vs Missouri	2	1	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 13	W 56-12vs Wofford	3	2	1.0	1.0	—	0
Total		29	21	16.5	11.5	—	1