To me, Kenny Willekes is the most interesting Michigan State player in the NFL Draft. Michigan State’s career leader in tackles-for-loss went from being a walk-on to being, in my mind, the best player on the team for the last two years. Now, he will look to overcome skeptics and make his way to an NFL roster via the 2020 NFL Draft. Below you will find a quick round-up of our thoughts on Willekes along with the thoughts of a few draft analysts.
The SpartansWire Take:
In my opinion, I think many of the criticism of Kenny Willekes are overstated. For some reason, he has gotten tagged with narrative that he lacks athleticism. I personally don’t understand where that comes from, I’ve never seen it show up on game footage, but nonetheless, that is what Willekes is facing heading into next week’s NFL Draft. He went into this draft putting out an awesome highlight video of himself doing multiple athletic feats to quell these concerns, and one NFL GM was impressed by the showcase.
We might be biased, but to me, Willekes should be a second or third-round draft pick, however, I am anticipating that he will be drafted in the fourth round.
What analysts are saying:
DraftWire Big Board Draft Position: 4th round, No. 154
While DraftWire had Willekes as their top Michigan State player in the draft based on their Big Board, NFL Network Analyst Daniel Jeremiah had Willekes as the No. 3 ranked Spartan in the draft behind Josiah Scott and Joe Bachie.
Combine Results:
Height: 6-3
Weight: 264
Arms: 31 1/4″
Hands: 9 1/2″
40-yard dash: 4.87 seconds
Bench press: 32 reps (3rd among DL)
Vertical jump: 32.5 inches (9th among DL)
Broad jump: 119.0 inches (9th among DL)
3-Cone drill: 7.39 seconds (10th among DL)
Career Stats:
40 games played, 228 tackles, 49 tackles for loss (school record), 23.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 4 fumble recoveries, 1 touchdown, 1 interception.
