A third-round find out of Buffalo, Koonce broke out with a career-high eight sacks for the Raiders in 2023 before fighting back from a season-ending knee injury.
Malcolm Koonce has spent his entire career in Las Vegas, developing from a rotational pass rusher into one of the Raiders' most productive edge defenders. After a knee injury wiped out most of his 2024 season, he returned in 2025 to play a full 17-game slate.
Path to the league
Koonce starred at Buffalo, earning First-team All-MAC honors in both his junior and senior seasons. His junior year alone produced 34 tackles, 11 tackles for loss and nine sacks, and he became just the fourth Buffalo player invited to the Senior Bowl. The Raiders drafted him in the third round (No. 79 overall) in 2021.
Career highlights
Koonce's breakout came in 2023, when he posted career highs of eight sacks, nine tackles for loss and three forced fumbles, including a three-sack outing against Kansas City on Christmas Day. For his career he has totaled 85 tackles, 14.5 sacks and four forced fumbles across 56 games, all with the Raiders.
2025 season recap
A knee injury suffered in practice cut his 2024 season short, but Koonce returned in 2025 to play all 17 games, recording 4.5 sacks and 30 tackles. He signed a one-year extension with Las Vegas in March 2026.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Malcolm Koonce
- ESPN: Malcolm Koonce
Statistics
2025 season and career2025 Season · Defense
17 games played▶Defense · career
| Year | Team | GP | TOT | SOLO | SACK | INT | FF | FR | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | raiders | 17 | 30 | 14 | 4.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | raiders | 17 | 43 | 32 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | raiders | 17 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | raiders | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Player Profile
Background
- Position
- Defensive End
- Group
- defense
- College
- Buffalo
- Hometown
- Peekskill, NY, USA
- Age
- 28
- Status
- active
