Western Michigan Football

HEIGHT: 6'3"

WEIGHT: 267

HAND: 9⅛"

ARM: 34½"

WINGSPAN: 83⅜"

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40-YARD DASH: 4.75

3-CONE: 7.02

SHUTTLE: 4.18

VERTICAL: 35.5"

BROAD: 9'11"

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POSITIVES

— Great frame with good length. Has an NFL-ready body.

— Impressive strength at the point of attack and long arms to get extension.

— Can set the edge versus offensive tackles against the run and has the strength to hold ground against combo blocks/double-teams from tackles and tight ends.

— Good bull-rusher with good pad level and leg drive to collapse the pocket.

— High-motor pass-rusher who can get coverage sacks.

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NEGATIVES

— Not quick-twitched or a high-level athlete. A little clunky and heavy-footed in his movements.

— Lacks burst or acceleration off the line of scrimmage. Isn't going to win around the edge with speed.

— Drops his hands, and overall use of hands as a pass-rusher is still a work in progress.

— A little tight, limiting his bend to turn tight corners around the edge.

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2023 STATISTICS

— 10 G, 57 TOT, 4.5 SK, 7.5 TFL, 2 FF

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NOTES

— Born July 8, 2001

— 2-star recruit in the 2019 class, per 247Sports

— Injuries: 2022 (Lower leg, missed 3 games), 2023 (Arm, missed 2 games)

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OVERALL

With his combination of strength and power, Marshawn Kneeland is a bull in the trenches. He has a handful of reps on film where he just overwhelms offensive tackles at the point of attack and refuses to get blocked by tight ends.

He's also quick to get his hands up against the run, has good block recognition and is decent at holding ground against combo blocks.

Kneeland is an impressive bull-rusher, as he has plenty of strength, uses good pad level by getting his helmet on the offensive tackle's chin and keeps his feet moving through contact. All of that allows him to collapse the pocket, and he's flashed a solid arm-over move as an inside counter off the bull.

However, the Western Michigan product doesn't appear to be a good athlete, and he's a little stiff. That limits his pass arsenal and can make bending or turning a tight corner at the top of the rush difficult. Right now, he's pretty reliant on winning with power.

Schematically, Kneeland would be best as a 5- or 6-technique defensive end in even fronts. He has an NFL-ready body that is perfect for that type of scheme, which is rare for a Group of Five prospect. He also had a decent showing at the Senior Bowl to help prove he can hold up against better competition and boost his draft stock.

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GRADE: 7.0 (High-Level Backup/Potential Starter — 3rd Round)

OVERALL RANK: 80

POSITION RANK: EDGE8

PRO COMPARISON: Za'Darius Smith

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Written by B/R NFL Scout Matt Holder

Visit B/R's NFL Scouting Department hub for scouting reports on all of the top prospects.

Film session is not going to be much fun for Toledo's football team on Thursday. On the other hand, it'll be a riot for Western Michigan.

The Broncos (2-0) pulled off an incredible fake spike with 20 seconds left in regulation and trailing by four for the game-winning touchdown as a stunned Rockets team helplessly stood by.

FAKE SPIKE FOR GAME 😱

(via @WMU_Football)pic.twitter.com/K6uaOEwcky

— Bleacher Report CFB (@BR_CFB) November 12, 2020

Western Michigan quarterback Kaleb Eleby marched the Broncos 51 yards in four plays, reaching the Toledo 9-yard line with an 18-yard pass to D'Wayne Eskridge. With the clock running, Eleby hurried his offense to the line and motioned for a spike. Toledo bought it, never noticing Jaylen Hall take off from the line of scrimmage and become the only player on either team inside the end zone.

All Eleby needed was a soft pass to a wide-open receiver to capture the 41-38 victory.

The Broncos scored 13 straight points and recovered an onside kick with 44 seconds remaining to keep the game alive. It paid off in a massive way only moments later.

Western Michigan cornerback Sam Beal is reportedly petitioning the NCAA in an effort to enter the 2018 NFL supplemental draft.

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, NFL personnel people believe Beal will be selected in the first three rounds if he is deemed eligible for the supplemental draft.

Beal was set to enter his senior season with the Broncos; however, he is now the second big-name cornerback looking to enter the supplemental draft.

Last week, Virginia Tech's Adonis Alexander announced that he will be part of the supplemental draft after being ruled academically ineligible.

Beal primarily spent his freshman season at Western Michigan at wide receiver before transitioning to cornerback.

After racking up 55 tackles and eight passes defended as a sophomore, Beal had his most productive campaign last season. In 10 games, Beal finished with 22 tackles, 10 passes defended, two interceptions and one forced fumble.

Bleacher Report's Matt Miller projected Beal as the No. 23 overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft to the Houston Texans as part of his mock draft in April.

No player has been selected in the supplemental draft since the then-St. Louis Rams used a fifth-round pick on offensive tackle Isaiah Battle in 2015. No date has been set for this year's supplemental.

The last time a team used a third-round pick or higher on a player in the supplemental draft was in 2012 when the Cleveland Browns took wide receiver Josh Gordon with a second-rounder. A team using a supplemental pick has to give up a pick from the same round in the following year's regular draft.

If both Beal and Alexander get selected, it will mark the first time since 2010 that multiple players were taken in the supplemental draft.

oh my god the sister of a Western Michigan WR just RAN ON THE FIELD after he scored a touchdown and no the game was not over pic.twitter.com/JvnfiZFDGA

— Tom Martin (@TomKCTV5) October 7, 2017

Celebrating your sibling's success is great, but the sister of Western Michigan tight end Donnie Ernsberger may have taken it a little too far Saturday night.

After Ernsberger caught a touchdown in overtime against Buffalo, a fan—identified by Tom Martin of KCTV5 as Ernsberger's sister—ran onto the field to celebrate with the team.

It may have been a fun moment for the Ernsberger family had it been the game-winning score, but the touchdown only helped tie the game, sending it into a second overtime.

[Twitter]

Former Western Michigan football player Ronald George was sentenced to 32 months to 10 years for his role in an armed robbery, per the Associated Press (via ESPN). 

His co-defender and former teammate, Bryson White, will have his sentencing hearing on July 3 after pleading guilty to armed robbery.

George and White were both freshmen yet to see the field at the time they were suspended and ultimately removed from the team following the August incident.

"This has been a difficult time for our University, community and family," then-coach P.J. Fleck said in a statement, per Justin Dacey of MLive.com. "With this action we are moving forward and we are focusing our attention on Northwestern."

The duo were accused of stealing cash, marijuana and a speaker from a woman's apartment near the Western Michigan campus in Kalamazoo. 

They were initially charged with armed robbery, first-degree home invasion and larceny in a building, although the last two were dropped as part of a plea deal.

Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck and his former school, Western Michigan, have reached an agreement that will allow the head coach to use the "Row the Boat" slogan, according to Cory Olsen of MLive.com.

The coach has continued to use the phrase at his new school, per Olsen, despite the fact that Western Michigan previously owned its rights. But Western Michigan athletic director Kathy Beauregard announced on Wednesday that Harlan Sports, founded by Fleck's agent, Bryan Harlan, now owns the slogan:

We really wanted to come out with a win-win regarding the Row the Boat mantra. That has been completed. There are no restrictions on us still being able to use it, so when we talk about using it in conjunction with our historical season, bringing the community together, the rally cry behind it, the story behind it is always going to be there. And we definitely will celebrate it as we celebrate what we've gone through during coach Fleck's tenure.

The price? Fleck will donate $10,000 a year over the next five years for "football scholarship allocations," along with honoring a former pledge of $50,000 to renovate "Bill Brown facility's suite area," as Beauregard told Olsen.

According to Darren Rovell of ESPN, Fleck began using the mantra in Feb. 2011 after his son Colt died due to a heart condition to reflect a "never give up" point of view.

In May 2013, Fleck broke down the metaphor, per David Drew of MLive.com:

I had "Row the Boat" a long time ago, but I never brought it out. It's very simple when you break it down. There are three parts to rowing the boat. There is the oar, which is the energy behind rowing the boat. There is boat, which is the actual sacrifice, either our team or the administration or the boosters or the audience or whoever is willing to sacrifice for this program. There is also the compass. Every single person that comes in contact with our football program, fans or not, they are all going for one common goal and that is success.

For Fleck, keeping the mantra with him as he took over at Minnesota was incredibly important.

"I really hope because of what it means, that I have the ability to at least purchase it, take it with me, and continue to change other people's lives through tragedy, through adversity, in just a different area," Fleck told ESPN.com in January, according to Rovell.

Fleck, 36, signed a five-year, $18.5 million contract with Minnesota this winter after spending the past four seasons as Western Michigan's head coach. He led the Broncos to a 30-22 record during that time and three consecutive bowl appearances, including a 13-1 record in 2016 and a trip to the Cotton Bowl. 

The Western Michigan Broncos football team just finished its first perfect season since joining the MAC, with head coach P.J. Fleck holding all of the leverage as he seeks a new contract. 

Continue for updates. 

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WMU, Fleck in Negotiations

Thursday, Dec. 8

Per Tony Paul of the Detroit News, Western Michigan athletic director Kathy Beauregard said the school is still in negotiations with Fleck, using the term "elite" to describe the talks. 

Fleck seemed poised to be on the radar for one of the major head coaching jobs that came open, but virtually all of those positions have already been filled. Tom Herman went to Texas and Ed Orgeron had the interim tag taken off him by LSU. 

The Houston job is still open, though Dan Wolken of USA Today reported the program is poised to hire Lane Kiffin when school officials hold a meeting on Thursday night to determine which direction they want to go. 

In four years as the Broncos' head coach, Fleck has done a fantastic job of completely reinventing the program. They went 1-11 in his first season after taking over for Bill Cubit before posting back-to-back eight-win campaigns, highlighted by the school's first bowl win in the Bahamas Bowl last December. 

After the 2014 season, Fleck signed a six-year extension that made him the highest-paid coach in the Mid-American Conference with an average salary of $800,000. 

All of that set the stage for Western Michigan's 13-0 performance this season and the school's first conference title since 1988. The Broncos will close their season with a Cotton Bowl showdown against Wisconsin. 

Fleck has done everything in his power to make Western Michigan a known commodity on the national stage, with ESPN's College Gameday even setting one of its shows in Kalamazoo earlier this year. He has earned whatever extension the school will give him. 

Western Michigan Broncos wide receiver Corey Davis made history Friday night against the Toledo Rockets, setting the record for most career receiving yards in FBS history.

With a seven-yard catch in the second quarter, Davis ran his career total to 5,007 yards, moving him ahead of Trevor Insley, who played for the Nevada Wolf Pack from 1996 to 1999.

Entering the 2016 season, much of Davis' work flew under the radar, since casual college football fans haven't been following Western Michigan's exploits in the MAC on a regular basis. The Broncos went 17-21 over the previous three seasons, so they weren't among the premier "Group of Five" teams, either.

When given a big stage, though, Davis often delivered. In the Broncos' last two bowl appearances, he has a combined 16 receptions for 359 yards and four touchdowns. He also caught 10 passes for 154 yards and a touchdown in Western Michigan's season-opening defeat to Michigan State in 2015.

As the Broncos began the year 11-0, Davis' profile grew significantly, and as a result, he has established himself as one of the best wideouts in the 2017 draft class. Bleacher Report's Matt Miller tweeted on Nov. 21 he considers Davis a first-round talent and the No. 2 wide receiver, up from No. 5 in his initial 2017 rankings after the draft. 

"It wasn't even fair the way he did those corners in that conference," an AFC North scout said to NFL Media's Lance Zierlein. "Like a man among boys. Should see just how real he is at the Senior Bowl."

Davis will likely have one more opportunity to make an impression in front of a national audience before his college career draws to a close. No. 19-ranked Boise State lost to Air Force on Friday, 27-20, giving Western Michigan a clearer path to the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 2 as the highest-ranked Group of Five team.

Western Michigan University football players Bryson White and Ron George were arrested following an off-campus incident in which they allegedly held up a female student on Friday.

Per WWMT 3 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, White and George were arrested in a car on the Western Michigan campus with weapons and stolen money. The two allegedly held up the woman with a knife and semi-automatic gun. 

On Sunday, Western Michigan announced both players have been dismissed by the team, per Dr. Saturday.

"This has been difficult for our university, community and family," Western Michigan head coach P.J. Fleck said, per Dr. Saturday. "With this action we are moving forward and we are focusing our attention on Northwestern."

Prior to their dismissal, the players were suspended on Saturday. Fleck released a statement to WWMT about the alleged incident: 

Having heard this news early this morning, I took action to immediately suspend both freshman players indefinitely. We expect to learn more about these allegations today. I'm extremely disappointed and want to assure the community that this kind of conduct is unacceptable and does not represent the values of this team or this university. The students will be held accountable to all University student- code, Athletic-student athlete and Football Code of conduct standards. Violations of these standards can lead to dismissal from the team and University.

WWMT added that jail records show White and George remain in custody at the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office. There are no additional details about the alleged incident as of right now. 

White was a freshman wide receiver, and George was a freshman linebacker on the Western Michigan football team. The Broncos are scheduled to open the 2016 season September 3 at Northwestern.