Deshawn McKnight

Senior defensive lineman for Arizona. 2025: 2 sacks, 11 tackles for loss, 26 tackles.

DL · Arizona · Sr.

6′3″ · 299 lb · Sumter, SC

CFB Index 38 · #281 of 420 edge rushersLow confidenceReturning to Arizona for 2026

How he plays

Disrupts the pocket from the interior.

Tackles for loss: 97th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

sacks · 2025

11 TFL · 26 tackles · 2 hurries

Best game: 0.5 sacks, 2.5 TFL, 3 tackles, vs Kansas State

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive lineman for Arizona. 2025: 2 sacks, 11 tackles for loss, 26 tackles.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to App State in 2021.
Transferred from UT Martin to Arizona in 2025.

His career, year by year

Deshawn McKnight

DL · Arizona · Sr

Disrupts the pocket from the interior. Across four seasons and two programs, two head coaches: Shawn Clark and Brent Brennan. The receipt on tape: 4 tackles, 1 TFL against Cincinnati, Week 12, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2021App State10-4HC: Shawn Clark · Run-heavy, slow tempo

2022App State6-6HC: Shawn Clark · Run-leaning

2023App State9-5HC: Shawn Clark · Balanced

2025Arizona9-4HC: Brent Brennan · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

38Below cohort / limited sample #281 of 420?

Medium confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: tackles for loss (97th percentile). Concern: passes defended (18th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Tackles for loss#74 / 2975 · 97th pct

11.0

Sacks#487 / 2975 · 80th pct

2.0

QB hurries#634 / 2975 · 72nd pct

Tackles#1609 / 2975 · 45th pct

Solo tackles#2127 / 2975 · 26th pct

Passes defended#1916 / 2975 · 18th pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 10 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home7g	2.4	1.1	0.1	0.0
Road3g	3.0	1.0	0.3	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	2.5	1.2	0.2	0.0
Weeks 8+4g	2.8	1.0	0.2	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Brent Brennan

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Part-time starter

Tackle volume for the position in part-time-starter range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

38 · #281 of 420 edge rushers

Three-star recruit. Now #281 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-Big 12

Based on 2025: #24 of 35 Big 12 DLs

How the All-Big 12 estimate is computed

15% estimated, 95% confidence interval 13–17%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Arizona	26	9	11.0	2.0	--	--	--
2023	App State	--	--	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
2022	App State	14	4	0.0	0.0	1	--	--
2021	App State	8	3	2.5	0.0	--	--	--
Career		48	16	13.5	2.0	1	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2025

W 23–17

vs Kansas State

3 TOT · 2 SOLO · 0 SACKS

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 6 at home.

With I. Mahdi — 189 rush yds (22 car) · N. Fifita — 178 yds · 0 TD · 0 INT · QBR 55.4 · 48 rush yds (15 car) · 2 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	Note
Wk 1	W 40-6vs Hawai'i	3	0	1.0	0.0	—
Wk 2	W 48-3vs Weber State	2	0	1.0	0.5	—
Wk 3	W 23-17vs Kansas State	3	2	2.5	0.5	—	2.5 TFL
Wk 5	L 14-39@ Iowa State	2	1	1.0	0.0	—
Wk 6	W 41-13vs Oklahoma State	2	1	1.5	0.0	—
Wk 7	L 27-33vs BYU	3	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 8	L 28-31@ Houston	3	3	1.0	0.0	—
Wk 11	W 24-20vs Kansas	2	0	1.0	0.0	—
Wk 12	W 30-24@ Cincinnati	4	1	1.0	1.0	—	Season-high 4 tackles
Wk 13	W 41-17vs Baylor	2	1	1.0	0.0	—
Total		26	9	11.0	2.0	—

How he plays

Play style

Disruptive interior rusher who lives in the backfield.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

10 games

26Tackles

9Solo

11TFL

2Sacks

0Pass def.

0INT

26 tackles. 0 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 11 TFL.

Week 20.5 sacks
Week 30.5 sacks
Week 121 sack

Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.

2026 Outlook

Arizona

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive line · Arizona

Returning around him

4 Arizona players drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: +2 net (22 in / 20 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

Arizona · Last season: 9-4 (AP #21) · Talent rank #54 · 2026 recruiting class #42

DNA match

Player DNA

3-Tech Penetrator

Disruptive interior rusher who lives in the backfield.

IDL

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Josh Fuga’s 2024 season.

Josh Fuga

79%match

Virginia Tech · 2024

Dominique Ratcliff

Indiana · 2025

73%

Dion Washington

Nevada · 2023

69%

Mike Lockhart

West Virginia · 2023

65%

Isaiah Coe

Oklahoma · 2022

63%

Matches Josh on

Weight

TFL rate

Class year

Differs from Josh on

Height (higher)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a graduate, his production profile tracks closest to Josh Fuga's graduate season at Virginia Tech (2024).

Josh Fuga

79%match

Virginia Tech · 2024

Dominique Ratcliff

Indiana · 2025

70%

J.J. Pegues

Ole Miss · 2024

55%

Davin Vann

NC State · 2024

All-ACC

50%

Brandon Brown

UTSA · 2024

All-AAC

38%

Matches Josh on

Hurry rate

Weight

TFL rate

Player DNA

Players who play like Deshawn McKnight

Zaire Angoy

Rutgers · 2024

95%

Jernias Tafia

Colorado State · 2024

91%

Fuches Lewis II

Georgia State · 2024

91%

Shymell Davis

Massachusetts · 2025

91%

Kavika Baumgartner

Fresno State · 2023

88%

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology

Deshawn McKnight

20218 games

2024

202510 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Part-time starter

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

3-Tech Penetrator

Players who play like Deshawn McKnight