Former defensive end at Buffalo. 2020: 5 sacks, 6.5 tackles for loss, 30 tackles.
6′3″ · 250 lb · Peekskill, NY
Recruiting
SDE recruit
No. 9 nationally · Signed with Buffalo
No college snaps yet.
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
Former defensive end at Buffalo. 2020: 5 sacks, 6.5 tackles for loss, 30 tackles.
Malcolm Koonce
2 stars out of high school, four seasons of real snaps at Buffalo since. 2020 brought the first one: All-MAC. One game to point at: 5 tackles against Miami (OH) — Week 11, 2020.
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
How it ended
Four seasons at Buffalo, 18 sacks, a first-team All-Conference season (2020) — drafted at #79 overall by Las Vegas.
His career
Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.
Career arc
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-MAC · 1ST TEAM
All-MAC 1st team (2020)
Badges
Coaching lineage · 2017–2020
1 coachPlayed his entire career under Lance Leipold.
Where He Ended Up · NFL
Las VegasEntering 6th NFL season
Season context · Team result + system
4 seasons under Lance Leipold — 30-16 over that span.
Where this defender ranks vs the field
Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort
Elite: sacks (97th percentile). Strength: qb hurries (95th percentile).
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 · Per-game
2020 season · 6 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home4g | 4.5 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.2 |
| Road2g | 6.0 | 2.0 | 1.5 | 0.5 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 8+6g | 5.0 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.3 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Pete Lembo
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.
Player standing · 2020
First team in his league at the position.
Game log · Week-by-week
2020 season · 6 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 10 | W 49-30@ Northern Illinois | 8 | 4 | 2.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 8 tackles |
| Wk 11 | W 42-10vs Miami (OH) | 5 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | W 42-17@ Bowling Green | 4 | 3 | 2.0 | 2.0 | — | 1 | 2 sacks |
| Wk 13 | W 70-41vs Kent State | 5 | 5 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 15 | W 56-7vs Akron | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 16 | L 28-38vs Ball State | 6 | 2 | 1.5 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 30 | 16 | 6.5 | 5.0 | — | 2 |