Player
Javon Kinlaw
DL · Commanders
Javon Kinlaw: facts drawn from the play-by-play.
6-season arc from 14th overall pick to a journeyman interior rusher — 82 tackles, 9.5 sacks across three teams.
TrendKinlaw by season (defensive participation)
| Season | Team | Tk | TFL | Sacks | QBH | PDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | SF | 15 | 3 | 1.5 | 4 | 4 |
| 2021 | SF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2022 | SF | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | SF | 15 | 6 | 3.5 | 7 | 3 |
| 2024 | NYJ | 23 | 5 | 4.5 | 5 | 0 |
| 2025 | WAS | 24 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
Drafted 14th overall in 2020 by San Francisco, Kinlaw's arc has been about staying on the field as much as producing on it. The 2021 and 2022 seasons (combined 5 tackles, 1 QB hit) were lost almost entirely to knee injury — a brutal middle of his rookie deal.
He found a healthier groove with the Jets in 2024 (23 tackles, 4.5 sacks) and has carried the volume to Washington in 2025 (24 tackles) — but the pass-rush production hasn't followed. 0 sacks in 2025 despite 3 QB hits is the headline number.
Tackles per season
| Season | Tackles |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 15 |
| 2021 | 1 |
| 2022 | 4 |
| 2023 | 15 |
| 2024 | 23 |
| 2025 | 24 |
His best pass-rush year (4.5 sacks) came in his first season away from the team that drafted him.
AnomalyPass rush production by team
| Team | Seasons | Sacks | QBH |
|---|---|---|---|
| 49ers | 4 (2020-23) | 5.0 | 12 |
| Jets | 1 (2024) | 4.5 | 5 |
| Commanders | 1 (2025) | 0 | 3 |
Four years in San Francisco produced 5.0 sacks total. A single season in New York produced 4.5. That's the inflection point of the Kinlaw career — the Jets number bought him the Washington deal, which has so far yielded a flatline as a pass rusher.
The 0-sack 2025 line is especially striking given his career-high 24 tackles. The volume is there; the disruption is not.
2023 was his only season where TFL kept pace with sacks — 6 TFL and 3.5 sacks for the 49ers.
SplitTFL vs Sacks by season
| Season | TFL | Sacks |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 3 | 1.5 |
| 2023 | 6 | 3.5 |
| 2024 | 5 | 4.5 |
| 2025 | 5 | 0 |
The 2023 season — Kinlaw's last in San Francisco — was the only year his TFL count (6) clearly outpaced his sack count (3.5). That's the profile of a player who's winning his rep, even if he's not always finishing it.
2025 is the opposite extreme: 5 TFL, 0 sacks. The TFL stick rate is there; the QB takedowns are not.
Career-high 24 tackles in 2025 — at age 28, in his first year as a Commander.
MilestoneAfter never hitting 25 tackles in any of his first five NFL seasons, Kinlaw is at 24 in 2025 with Washington — his career-high in defensive tackle volume.
It's the second straight season Kinlaw has set a personal best in tackles (23 in 2024, 24 in 2025). The injury-shortened 2021-22 stretch has become its own backstory — Kinlaw the rotational rusher has quietly turned into Kinlaw the every-down volume player.
Three teams in three years (SF → NYJ → WAS) — the most movement of any 2020 first-round interior DL.
ComparisonKinlaw was one of three DTs taken in the 2020 first round (alongside Derrick Brown #7 and Justin Madubuike — actually a 3rd-rounder). Of the 2020 first-round defensive linemen taken in the top 15:
- Chase Young (#2): SAS → SF → NO - Derrick Brown (#7): still in Carolina - Javon Kinlaw (#14): SF → NYJ → WAS
Three teams in three years is the high-water mark for movement in that 2020 first-round IDL class. Kinlaw is now playing under his third defensive coordinator in three seasons — and Washington's defensive scheme asks more of him as a run defender than either San Francisco or New York did.
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