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Raiders NFL Draft Prospect: DeAngelo Malone, Western Kentucky

The Las Vegas Raiders are looking at Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year, DeAngelo Malone, via the 2022 NFL Draft.

Jairo Alvarado

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Western Kentucky Hilltopper DeAngelo Malone has made a name for himself by becoming one of, if not the best defender in Conference USA history.

After being named C-USA Defensive Player of the Year in 2019 as a junior, he went out to close out his career by once again becoming the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year.

The Las Vegas Raiders will be looking to add Malone to their renovating defense.

“DeAngelo Malone has been a high-impact player for the past four seasons with the Hilltoppers. He broke out early on in his career because of his profile as a tackling machine. Malone projects best as an outside linebacker in an odd front because of his size and quickness. He makes a lot of the plays he does because of outstanding effort and understanding of play diagnosis at the line of scrimmage. He is not a high-caliber athlete in comparison to other edge defenders in this class, which may limit his ceiling. Regardless, Malone is an experienced player with a ton of production at the college level who can contribute right away in a rotational role, as well as playing on special teams,” NFL Draft Bible noted.

The 6-4, 240-pound edge rusher started all 14 games in his super-senior season and racked up 94 total tackles (44 solos), including a team-high 17.5 tackles for losses, nine sacks, and four forced fumbles.

Malone’s 94 total tackles led FBS defensive linemen, marking the second time in the last three seasons (99 total tackles in 2019) that he accomplished that stat line, and he holds the WKU career record for sacks with 34.

In addition, he was the first WKU player in the program's FBS Era to earn conference First Team honors three times and became only the fourth player in C-USA's history to earn Defensive Player of the Year honors twice.

“Super senior who decided to come back for another season to put more on film for general managers to think about. Malone's wiry build belies his toughness and play strength at the point of attack. He uses quick feet, a flexible frame and unusually successful recovery balance to slink into playmaking positions in the run game. His rush is unorthodox and unpredictable but his burst to close and fluidity inside the pocket are valuable in finishing against mobile quarterbacks. His slender frame will get knocked and he needs to craft a more repeatable rush, but he is competitive and savvy,” NFL Network Analyst Lance Zierlein said.

Many questioned his strength and pass-rushing ability, but as he showed on the Senior Bowl, he displayed that he can push forward as one of the best linemen in this year’s draft class and was named the Senior Bowl American Player of the Game.

While only participating in drills at the NFL Combine, he did put on a good display during Western Kentucky pro day last month, running a 4.58 40-yard dash.

Projected as a fourth-rounder in this year’s draft, Malone, if available, can be the Raiders' second selection of the night and contribute right away as a rotational player in a defense looking to cause havoc across the league.

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Jairo Alvarado
JAIRO ALVARADO

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