Usage / Role
95%
Featured defensive role
lowfeatured
Player Dossier
2016-2019Michigan State
Kenny Willekes
DE • 6'4" • 260 lbs • Rockford, MI, USA
Ball-hunting defenderSplash play profile
Kenny Willekes shows a ball-hunting defender profile with 54.2 disruption score.
Impact Production
53
Solid production for an edge defender
lowelite
Reliability
70
Reliable weekly contributor
lowhigh
Star Power
47
Limited ceiling signals so far
limitedstar
Career Arc
Value trend by season
Best season by Season Value: 2019 Postseason · Michigan State
16171718181919
Snapshot
- Career Teams
- 1
- Unique Seasons
- 4
- Program Path
- Michigan State
- Peak Game
- Peak game by takeover score: Ohio State
Player Story
Kenny Willekes built his college career from 2016 through 2019 as a defensive end from Rockford, MI wearing No. 48, spending time with Michigan State. The clearest part of Kenny Willekes' career was his defensive...
Read the storyNFL Draft
- Draft Year
- 2020
- Selection
- Round 7 · Pick 11
- Overall
- No. 225
- NFL Team
- Minnesota Vikings
Kenny Willekes, DE. Best season Best season by Season Value: 2019 Postseason · Michigan State. Kenny Willekes shows a ball-hunting defender profile with 54.2 disruption score.
Stat Footprint
Career production snapshot
- Tackles
- 227
- TFL
- 50.5
- Sacks
- 25
- QB hurries
- 36
- Passes defended
- 4
Quick Answers
Kenny Willekes quick answers
- Latest team and position
- Michigan State · DE
- Career Tackles
- 227
- Tracked sample
- 4 unique seasons · 7 entries · 40 games
- Best season
- 2019 Postseason · Michigan State
- Top game
- Ohio State
- NFL Draft
- 2020 · Round 7 · Pick 11 · Minnesota Vikings
- Latest roster
- No. 48 · Senior
- 2019 Tackles rank
- 78 tackles · DE 3rd (top 1%) · Big Ten 22nd (top 4%) · National 215th (top 4%)
Season Ledger
Crawlable season-by-season stats
| Season | Team | Games | Tackles | TFL | Sacks | QB Hur | PD | TD | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 Regular Season | Michigan State | 1 | 0 | - | 0 | - | 1 | 0 | 28.1 |
| 2017 Postseason | Michigan State | 13 | 4 | - | 0 | 1 | - | 0 | 67.6 |
| 2017 Regular Season | Michigan State | 13 | 68 | 14 | 6.5 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 67.6 |
| 2018 Postseason | Michigan State | 13 | 2 | - | 0 | - | - | 0 | 78.7 |
| 2018 Regular Season | Michigan State | 13 | 75 | 20.5 | 8 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 78.7 |
| 2019 Postseason | Michigan State | 13 | 9 | 1.5 | 1.5 | - | - | 0 | 78.9 |
| 2019 Regular Season | Michigan State | 13 | 69 | 14.5 | 9 | 16 | - | 0 | 78.9 |
Related Context
Keep exploring Kenny Willekes
Kenny Willekes played DE for Michigan State. Across 4 tracked seasons, Kenny Willekes recorded 227 tackles. His top tracked season came in 2018 with Michigan State.
Player insights
Lead takeaway
Best season by value score: 2019 Postseason
Michigan State paired 42.5 primary output with 54.2 efficiency.
Supporting note
2017 Postseason role shape
impact-led usage with 45.8 efficiency.
Supporting note
Career value stayed steady
2019 Regular Season tracked close to the prior stop by season value score.
Supporting note
Peak game by takeover score: Maryland
Win with backfield disruption leading the way. It landed in the 100th percentile of the selected season.
Analysis workspace
Season Workbench
Filter the strongest season sample, inspect game-level shape, and then drop into the full log without losing the story of the year.
Season Explorer
Understand the selected season before dropping into the full game log.
2017 Postseason · Michigan State
Games
13
Havoc Plays / G
2.3
Efficiency
45.8
Usage
17.1
Consistency
52.9
Best Game by takeover score
Maryland
Hover a point or expand a game row to keep the active game context visible here.
Active game
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Game-by-Game Trend
Follow how the selected stat changes from one game to the next. Spikes mark standout outings, while dips show quieter weeks.
Chronological game order.
Game by game trend chart. Washington State: 1. Bowling Green: 3. Western Michigan: 3. Notre Dame: 0.5. Iowa: 0.5. Michigan: 5. Minnesota: 4. Indiana: 1. Northwestern: 0.5. Penn State: 4. Ohio State: 2. Maryland: 6. Rutgers: 0
Volume vs Efficiency
Each dot is a game. Farther right means the player carried more of the workload, and higher means they were more efficient with those chances.
Low volumeHigh quality
High volumeHigh quality
Low volumeLower quality
High volumeLower quality
Volume on the x-axis, quality on the y-axis.
Volume versus efficiency scatter chart. Washington State: 4 by 26.7. Bowling Green: 2 by 38.3. Western Michigan: 3 by 42.5. Notre Dame: 10 by 46.7. Iowa: 2 by 13.3. Michigan: 9 by 87.5. Minnesota: 6 by 65. Indiana: 6 by 35. Northwestern: 5 by 25.8. Penn State: 5 by 60.8. Ohio State: 9 by 57.5. Maryland: 9 by 87.5. Rutgers: 2 by 8.3
Split Comparison
Compare how this player performed across different situations. "Games" shows how many matchups are included in each split.
Wins2.8 · Games = 10 · +1.8 vs Losses
Losses1 · Games = 3 · -1.8 vs Wins
Game Log
Dense stat lines with inline explanations and season-linked highlights.
13 games
Featured metric
Havoc Plays
Top game by takeover score
Maryland
Best efficiency game
87.5 vs Maryland
| Result | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 12/29 | vs Washington State | W 42-17 | 4 | 4 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 11/25 | @ Rutgers | W 40-7 | 2 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 11/18 | vs Maryland2+ sacks · Splash game | W 17-7 | 9 | 4 | — | 3 | 2 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 11/11 | @ Ohio StateSplash game | L 3-48 | 9 | 5 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 11/4 | vs Penn StateSplash game | W 27-24 | 5 | 0 | — | 1.50 | 0.50 | — | 1 | — | — |
| Sat 10/28 | @ Northwestern | L 31-39 | 5 | 4 | — | 0.50 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 10/21 | vs Indiana | W 17-9 | 6 | 2 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sun 10/15 | @ Minnesota2+ sacks · Splash game | W 30-27 | 6 | 4 | — | 2 | 2 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 10/7 | @ Michigan2+ sacks · Splash game | W 14-10 | 9 | 4 | — | 3 | 2 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/30 | vs Iowa | W 17-10 | 2 | 0 | — | 0.50 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sun 9/24 | vs Notre Dame10+ tackles | L 18-38 | 10 | 3 | — | 0.50 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/9 | vs Western MichiganSplash game | W 28-14 | 3 | 1 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/2 | vs Bowling GreenSplash game | W 35-10 | 2 | 1 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 1 | — | — |
Player Story
Kenny Willekes story
Kenny Willekes built his college career from 2016 through 2019 as a defensive end from Rockford, MI wearing No. 48, spending time with Michigan State. The clearest part of Kenny Willekes' career was his defensive production: 227 tackles, 50.5 tackles for loss, 25 sacks, and 4 passes defended across 40 career games in the available record. His largest box-score season came in 2019 with Michigan State. Those numbers show where he fit, how often the ball or action found him, and how his role developed over time.
Defensive careers can be hard to read from one number, but Kenny Willekes' production has multiple signals. With 40 career games in the available record, his career has enough shape to show both opportunity and production across Michigan State.
The arc is straightforward: Kenny Willekes moved through the depth chart, found a larger role, and turned that opportunity into production that can be understood through standard football numbers.
Career Arc
Track team changes, role shifts, and season-to-season movement.
- 1
Michigan State
2016-2019
Opening stop
Season Value Progression
2016201720172018201820192019
| Season | Team | Primary | Efficiency | Usage | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 Regular Season | Michigan State | 1 | 10 | 0 | — |
| 2017 Postseason | Michigan State | 30.5 | 45.8 | 17.1 | 29.5 |
| 2017 Regular Season | Michigan State | 30.5 | 45.8 | 17.1 | 0 |
| 2018 Postseason | Michigan State | 41.5 | 53.6 | 19 | 11 |
| 2018 Regular Season | Michigan State | 41.5 | 53.6 | 19 | 0 |
| 2019 Postseason | Michigan State | 42.5 | 54.2 | 15.5 | 1 |
| 2019 Regular Season | Michigan State | 42.5 | 54.2 | 15.5 | 0 |
Signature Performances
Top Games
#1 Featured game
vs Ohio State
Week 11 · L 6-26 · Conference game
Loss with 6.5 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
6.5
Havoc Plays
97.6 takeover
6.5 disruption/tackle impact with 97.6 takeover score.
#2
vs Maryland
Week 12 · W 17-7 · Conference game
6
Havoc Plays
95.8 takeover
Win with backfield disruption leading the way.
6 disruption/tackle impact with 95.8 takeover score.
#3
vs Arizona State
Week 3 · L 7-10
7.5
Havoc Plays
93.1 takeover
Loss with 7.5 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
7.5 disruption/tackle impact with 93.1 takeover score.
#4
vs Utah State
Week 1 · W 38-31
7
Havoc Plays
91.7 takeover
Win with backfield disruption leading the way.
7 disruption/tackle impact with 91.7 takeover score.
#5
@ Michigan
Week 6 · W 14-10 · Conference game
5
Havoc Plays
90.3 takeover
Win with backfield disruption leading the way.
5 disruption/tackle impact with 90.3 takeover score.
Top Seasons
#1 Season by Season Value
2019 Postseason · Michigan State
42.5 primary output · 54.2 efficiency · 15.5 usage
78.9
#2
2019 Regular Season · Michigan State
78.9
42.5 primary · 54.2 efficiency · 15.5 usage
#3
2018 Postseason · Michigan State
78.7
41.5 primary · 53.6 efficiency · 19 usage
Milestones
22
Impact games
25
Splash games
3
10+ tackle games
Next best actions
Keep exploring Kenny Willekes
Move from the player story into the game log, career arc, team context, and video shelf.