Takkarist Jaune McKinley (born November 2, 1995) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

who is a free agent. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

and was drafted by the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

in the first round of the

2017 NFL Draft The 2017 NFL Draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia f ...

Early years

McKinley attended Kennedy High School in

Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 7, 1905, and has a Richmond, California City Council, city council.

. He played for the Eagles

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team. He had 50 tackles and 15 sacks as a junior and 60 tackles and 11 sacks as a senior. He also ran track in high school.

College career

McKinley originally committed to the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

but was ruled a non-qualifier and attended

Contra Costa College Contra Costa College is a public community college in San Pablo, California. It is the west campus of the Contra Costa Community College District. It is part of the California community colleges system, one of the three college systems in Califor ...

. During his one season at Contra Costa College in 2013, he had 33 tackles and 10 sacks. In September 2014, he transferred to the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

(UCLA). He played in 10 games that season, making one start, and finished the year with 2.5 sacks. As a junior in 2015, McKinley started 12 of 13 games, recording 35 tackles and 3.5 sacks. As a senior in 2016, he recorded 10 sacks.

Professional career

McKinley was invited to the NFL Combine as an outside linebacker and completed all the combine drills except for the short shuttle and three-cone drill. He went under surgery to repair a torn labrum and a fracture in his shoulder socket after the combine. His recovery time was expected to take four to six months, making him unable to participate at UCLA's

Pro Day The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

. NFL draft analysts projected McKinley to be selected within the first two rounds.

Atlanta Falcons

McKinley was drafted by the

in the first round (26th overall) of the

. On May 11, McKinley signed a four-year, $10.21 million contract with $7.89 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $5.57 million. He played in all 16 games, recording 20 tackles and six sacks, good for fourth in the league among rookies and second on the team behind

Adrian Clayborn Adrian Jarrell Clayborn (born July 6, 1988) is a former American football defensive end. He played college football for the University of Iowa, and earned consensus All-American honors. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first r ...

. In Week 4 of the 2018 season, against the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

, McKinley recorded a career-high three sacks in a 37–36 loss. He finished the season with 22 combined tackles and a team-high seven sacks. In 2019, McKinley played in 14 games with 13 starts, recording 29 tackles and 3.5 sacks. He suffered a shoulder injury in Week 15 and was placed on injured reserve on December 17, 2019. On April 29, 2020, the Falcons declined the fifth-year option on McKinley's contract. In November 2020, McKinley publicly requested to be traded after privately requesting the Falcons since 2019, who had turned down several trade offers from other teams. He was waived by the team shortly after. The same month, McKinley was claimed off waivers by the

and

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

but had his contracts for both voided due to failed physicals.

Las Vegas Raiders

McKinley was claimed off waivers by the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West divis ...

on November 23, 2020. Prior to joining the Raiders, McKinley was claimed by but had failed physicals with the

and then the

. He was placed on injured reserve on November 27, 2020. He was designated to return from injured reserve on December 15, and began practicing with the team again, but head coach

Jon Gruden Jon David Gruden (born August 17, 1963) is a former American professional football coach who was a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons. He held his first head coaching position with the Raiders franchise during thei ...

announced on December 30 that he would not be activated.

Cleveland Browns

McKinley signed a one-year contract with the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

on March 17, 2021. In Week 14, McKinley had two tackles and a sack, including a forced fumble on

Tyler Huntley Tyler Isaiah Huntley (born February 3, 1998), nicknamed "Snoop", is an American football quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Utah Utes, leading them to two South Div ...

in a 24-22 win over the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

. He suffered a torn Achilles in the game and was placed on season-ending injured reserve on December 21. He finished the season with 18 tackles, 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble through 11 games.

Tennessee Titans

On September 16, 2022, McKinley signed with the practice squad of the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

Los Angeles Rams

On September 21, 2022, McKinley was signed by the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

off the practice squad of the

. His contract was terminated by the

on October 18, 2022.

Dallas Cowboys

On November 16, 2022, McKinley signed with the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

practice squad, reuniting with defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who was his head coach with the Falcons.

NFL statistics

References

External links

Cleveland Browns bioUCLA Bruins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKinley, Takkarist 1995 births Living people American football defensive ends Atlanta Falcons players Cleveland Browns players Contra Costa Comets football players Dallas Cowboys players Las Vegas Raiders players Los Angeles Rams players Players of American football from Oakland, California Tennessee Titans players UCLA Bruins football players