Junior defensive lineman on Central Michigan's 2025 roster.
6′3″ · 250 lb · Cincinnati, OH
The story
3 defensive lineman on Central Michigan's 2026 roster.
The record fills in as he plays.
His career, year by yearMalik Denkins
Three seasons at Central Michigan, two different head coaches: Jim McElwain and Matt Drinkall. The receipt: 5 tackles, 1.5 TFL against Vanderbilt — Week 1, 2026.
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
Career arc
Coaching lineage · 2022–2025
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Jim McElwain → Matt Drinkall. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
Season context · Team result + system
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 3 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home2g | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Road1g | 5.0 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-73g | 2.3 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Matt Drinkall
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Central Michigan | 5 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2024 | Central Michigan | 4 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.5 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2022 | Central Michigan | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 10 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.5 | -- | -- | -- |
Game by game
Point color shows the opponent's defensive strength that week (red = weaker defense, blue = stronger) — dashed line is this player's own season average.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 3 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 35-17vs Gardner-Webb | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 5 tackles |
| Wk 1 | L 9-28@ Vanderbilt | 5 | 2 | 1.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 5 tackles |
| Wk 2 | W 63-7vs Morehead State | 2 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 7 | 2 | 2.0 | 0.5 | — | 0 |
2026 Outlook
Central Michigan
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Defensive line · Central Michigan
Returning around him
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Central Michigan · Last season: 7-6 · Talent rank #125 · 2026 recruiting class #95