Kendal
Daniels.
Kendal
Daniels.
Oklahoma· 6'5"· 242 lb· 4.76s 40
R4 · #134 · Atlanta Falcons"Big Twelve safety-to-linebacker convert who stacked 278 tackles, 7.5 sacks and five picks across two schools; length and blitz timing are the sell, tight-space movement is the flag."Pre-draft read
Aligns as a mike and stand-up rover, winning with length and range. He reads guard-tackle blocks from an even-front stack, triggering downhill without false steps, and finishes ballcarriers with long arms before they reach the second level. His overhang eyes carry over from safety, allowing him to pattern-match No. 2 to the flat, open his hips cleanly to carry seams up the hash, and match receiving backs in the alley.
His blitz timing functions as his separator; he arcs off the edge and tempos delayed A-gap looks that consistently reach the quarterback. Take-on technique against gap-scheme leads remains a developing aspect of his play; he can be washed out by climbing centers when he attempts to run under blocks rather than stacking and shedding them.
Atlanta often runs a versatile Fangio two-high scheme that emphasizes positional flexibility and adaptability in their defensive secondary and linebacking corps.
Year 1: Versatile dime-backer who can contribute immediately on special teams. Ceiling: Three-down coverage linebacker capable of disrupting passing lanes and providing an interior pass-rush threat.
A traditional 3-4 two-gap scheme where he would be asked to consistently take on and shed blocks from interior linemen without the freedom to flow to the ball.
Daniels is a former safety with exceptional length and blitzing prowess, fitting well into a modern nickel defense that values versatility and pass coverage, but he needs to develop his run-fit technique against interior blocks.
Kendal Daniels Oklahoma 2025 Season Highlights
Full 2025 tape from his lone Oklahoma season at stand-up linebacker — run fits, blitzes and coverage drops.
Why Kendal Daniels can be a STUD in the NFL
Breakdown of Daniels's traits, position conversion and NFL projection heading into the 2026 draft.
Top FRESHMAN Defensive Back! Kendal Daniels Highlights
2022 Oklahoma State tape from his Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year season at safety — range, ball skills, INT vs Texas.
This player projects as a hybrid dime-linebacker, best suited for base-nickel defenses that can mitigate his current run-fit limitations by deploying him alongside veteran interior linebackers. His length and versatile college usage across multiple positions and schemes make him a plug-and-play role player with special teams upside, offering a team tactical flexibility in sub-packages.
A former Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year, he spent four seasons at Oklahoma State as an oversized safety before converting to stand-up linebacker for his final season at Oklahoma in 2025. Across two positions and two schemes, he accumulated 54 games played, 278 tackles, 7.5 sacks, five interceptions, and 16 pass breakups. His combine testing, including a 4.76 forty, indicated good length but capped his perceived athletic ceiling for a linebacker.
Evaluation boards typically placed him in the 130-170 range due to concerns about his ability to consistently shed blocks and a limited sample size at linebacker. Ultimately, he was selected in the fourth round with the 134th pick, with teams betting on his unique blend of length, ball production, and blitzing ability to define a specialized role in a modern sub-defense.
- 01
Positional Versatility
He operated across four positions and two schemes, providing coaches with a versatile player.
- 02
Length Impacts Passing
His length allows him to swat throwing lanes and finish tackles wide, with 16 career pass breakups.
- 03
Effective Blitz Timer
He is an effective blitz timer and edge-arc rusher, registering numerous sacks.
- 04
Ball Production Track Record
He demonstrates a track record of ball production with five college interceptions.
- 05
Special Teams Experience
He offers an immediate rookie-year role as a four-phase special teams coverage player.
- 01
Tight-Space Movement
His 4.76 forty and 4.37 shuttle are in the bottom third for linebackers, limiting man-match assignments.
- 02
Take-On Strength
His take-on strength at the point of attack needs development against climbing centers.
- 03
Position Tweener
He projects as a position tweener without elite safety speed or linebacker stack-and-shed density.
- 04
Limited Sample Size
He has a limited sample size at linebacker, with only one full college season at the second level.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.76sp50
- Vertical
- 29.5inp50
- Broad jump
- —in
- Three-cone
- —s
- Shuttle
- 4.37sp50
- Bench
- —rep
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Oklahoma State | 12 | 69 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 2023 | Oklahoma State | 14 | 105 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 2024 | Oklahoma State | 12 | 64 | 5.5 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 2025 | Oklahoma | 13 | 54 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Career | — | 51 | 292 | 8.5 | 5 | 14 | 0 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Length-and-tackling linebacker whose tight-space testing capped him at rotational and special-teams work — a fair mid-round match for the profile.
Long safety-to-linebacker convert who found real snaps as a dime backer and blitz option — Daniels's cleanest developmental ceiling.
Big safety-to-linebacker experiment with testing questions who never stuck at the position — the fear if the tweener label follows Daniels into camp.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Pre-draft context Kendal Daniels arrived at Oklahoma State in 2021 as the highest-rated recruit in the Cowboys' class, a Beggs, Oklahoma safety who had originally committed to Texas A&M and had a late Oklahoma offer rescinded before flipping to Stillwater. He redshirted as a freshman, then broke out in 2022 with 45 tackles, three interceptions and Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year honors as an every-down safety, including a game-sealing pick off Quinn Ewers at Texas. His sophomore year in 2023 was his highest-volume tape — 105 tackles across 14 games, second on the team, with two fumble recoveries and honorable-mention All-Big 12 recognition. In 2024 Oklahoma State moved him closer to the line of scrimmage and he produced 64 tackles, 10.5 TFL, 5.5 sacks and seven pass breakups as a hybrid rover-plus-blitzer. When the Oklahoma State program leadership changed after 2024, Daniels transferred to Oklahoma and completed the conversion to stand-up linebacker, starting all 13 games in 2025 with 53 tackles, nine TFL, three pass breakups and a fumble recovery. Combine testing at 6-5, 242 (4.76 forty, 4.37 shuttle, 29.5-inch vertical) capped his athletic evaluation but confirmed the length that scouts already saw on tape.
NFL fit — Atlanta Falcons Atlanta drafted Daniels in the fourth round as a hybrid dime-linebacker for the team's defensive scheme, which has cycled through interchangeable back-seven bodies since the last major coaching change. His initial usage projects as core special teams — punt-return unit and kick-cover — plus emergency snaps in a dime package where the Falcons can hide him behind their starters at both linebacker and safety. Length gives him a defined role batting throwing lanes on second-and-long, and the college blitz production suggests a green-dog and edge-arc package that can be called on obvious pressure downs. The rookie season profiles as a redshirt-plus-teams year; contract-two value hinges on whether his 2025 Oklahoma linebacker sample was the floor or the ceiling of the position change.
Retrospective The Daniels evaluation was always going to hinge on two questions — whether the combine numbers were as tight-space as they looked and whether one college season of stand-up linebacker was enough to project three-down reps. Atlanta made the Day-3 bet that length, ball production and blitz timing are position-agnostic in a modern sub-defense. If he sticks it will be as a role-defined chess piece; if he does not, it will be because the tweener label followed him out of college.