Name: Kenny Willekes
Position: Edge rusher
College: Michigan State
Class: Senior
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 260
Draft Grade: early third round
Draft Projection: second to third round
Scout Talk: Michigan State Edge Rusher Kenny Willekes
Athletic Ability
Willekes shows above-average athletic ability with quick feet and good coordination. He’s agile enough to drop in coverage and not become a liability. He’ll need to work on his flexibility and bend around the edge.
Competitiveness
Kenny is a second-team All-American and team captain for the Spartans. He’s a former walk-on who plays with a high motor and a chip on his shoulder. He has experienced tremendous production for his position during his tenure in East Lansing.
Mental Alertness
Willekes shows good awareness, instincts, and play recognition. There are times when he can be overzealous with his pursuit and find himself out of position.
Strength/Durability
Willekes lacks overall play strength. There are times when he has difficulty disengaging from run blocks. On film, he looks smaller than what he is listed as. He suffered a broken fibula at the end of the 2018 season, but it doesn’t seem to be an issue that carried over.
Position Skill
Willekes has a good initial burst off the line of scrimmage. He shows good pursuit and tackling ability. He shows a good rip and swim move, a sub-par spin move. He needs to be more vigilant and active with his hands to swat away would-be blockers. While at Michigan State, he primarily lined up as a wide-nine technique and relied on his speed to blow past slower offensive tackles. He’s unable to get penetration versus the run on a consistent basis. He was blown off the ball more than I wanted to see by bigger offensive linemen. He has a bad habit of getting too far upfield and not being able to work back to quarterback in a timely manner.
Overall
There’s no question that Kenny Willekes has one of the better resumes of eligible edge defender prospects. That being said, he has some work to do in order to become a full-time starter at the NFL level. Mathematically, he grades out as a top of the third round prospect, which is right where he will likely be targeted. While he primarily played with his hand on the ground in college, based on his skill set, an ideal situation for him to start his career is to be taken by a team that runs a 3-4 scheme that can utilize him as a stand-up third-down pass rusher.
