2024 NFL Draft Profile: Marshawn Kneeland, EDGE, Western Michigan

Kneeland is a potential day two pick after starting four years along the defensive line for Western Michigan.

Marshawn Kneeland is one of the most iconic Western Michigan Broncos of the 2020s. Kneeland graced the campus in Kalamazoo for five seasons and served as a starter for four of them, operating as an integral part of the program for half a decade.

Each season, the defensive end accelerated his game to a point where he is certain to be selected in the 2024 NFL Draft. Kneeland’s career at Western Michigan culminated with a second-team All-MAC selection last fall, celebrating a fantastic senior campaign where he attained a career-high 57 tackles to go along with 4.5 sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss.

While 2023 was Kneeland’s best season to date, it wasn’t his first time posting such numbers. He obtained 10 tackles for loss in 2022 and 8.5 in 2021, demonstrating consistency as a backfield invader in each of his last three seasons as a starter. He totaled 12.5 sacks during his time in the MAC, maxing out with 4.5 in both 2021 and 2023.

Other notable stats Kneeland accumulated during his college career include three deflected passes in the 2022 season and two forced fumbles in 2023.

The six-foot-three, 267-pound defensive end earned an invite to the prestigious Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, where he accumulated one tackle and a share of a sack in the main event. Kneeland also impressed many scouts with his practice reps throughout Senior Bowl week, thriving as a pass rusher from both the defensive end and outside linebacker positions.

Kneeland was one of two MAC players, along with projected first round Toledo cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, to earn an invite to the 2024 NFL Draft Combine in Indianapolis. And just like he did at the Senior Bowl, Kneeland greatly benefited from the Combine and skyrocketed his draft stock by posting eye-opening measurements.

Kent Lee Platte is the creator of an often-utilized NFL Draft metric known as Relative Athletic Score (RAS), and Turner scored a very impressive 9.08 at the Combine, based on his grades compared to other defensive ends.

Kent Lee Platte | https://ras.football/ras-information/?PlayerID=25037&ovl=Combine

As demonstrated by his RAS, Kneeland’s agility and explosive traits were well regarded from his Combine performance. Kneeland posted a solid 4.75 seconds in the 40-yard dash, but his 4.18-second shuttle run and 7.02-second three-cone drill were among the best at his position. He also scored exceptionally well with a 35.5-inch vertical jump and a nine-foot, 11-inch broad jump.

Those numbers demonstrate that athleticism is the name of Kneeland’s game.

The defensive end operates with a tremendous blend of speed and power for his frame, and that combination was evident at Western Michigan. Arguably his strongest suit is defending the run, showing an incredible ability to set the edge while possessing the speed to match a wide variety of running backs. His backfield invasion abilities were well documented when defending handoffs, compiling 26 tackles-for-loss in his last three seasons as a starter. Kneeland is rarely out of a play, even if he is out of position or gets overwhelmed by an initial block, and his impressive recovery tactics help him generate plenty of tackles at the second level. He keeps his eyes well focused on running backs and is an expert at bouncing off blockers to record stops.

As a pass rusher, Kneeland’s sack numbers might not jump out on the page, and that’s what prevented the stellar defender from garnering first-team All-MAC honors. But Kneeland contributed to the pass rush in ways that didn’t show up in the box score, frequently placing quarterbacks under duress with 37 pressures. He attacks with great power and leg drive, transitioning into the NFL ranks with a workable foundation. Some elements of his technique can be further refined at the NFL level to improve his sack totals, including his hand placement and bend, but he already demonstrated exceptional abilities coming off the edge at the Senior Bowl. With more intensive coaching and specialization in the NFL, Kneeland can quickly transform into a functional rookie pass rusher, even after just posting 4.5 sacks a year ago in the MAC.

Overall, Kneeland is heralded as one of the premier edge rushers in the 2024 draft class. The former Western Michigan standout is widely projected as a Day 2 pick, with potential to land as high as the late first round or as low as the early fourth round. Kneeland is slated to extend Western Michigan’s streak of producing an NFL Draft selection to four-straight seasons and become the first defensive lineman from the program drafted since Keion Adams in 2017.