Malik McDowell

Malik McDowell (born June 20, 1996) is an American football defensive tackle who is currently a free agent. He played college football at Michigan State.

Early years
McDowell attended Loyola High School in Detroit, Michigan and later attended Southfield High School in Southfield, Michigan. He had a successful high school football career was rated by Rivals.com as a five-star recruit and was ranked as the second best defensive end in his class and 26th best player overall. He committed to Michigan State University to play college football.

College career
McDowell attended and played college football at Michigan State under head coach Mark Dantonio. In the 2014 season, McDowell played in all 13 games as a true freshman and had 15 tackles and 1.5 sacks. As a sophomore in 2015, he was named an All-American by Fox Sports. On November 29, 2016, McDowell was named Second Team All-Big Ten. On December 5, 2016, McDowell announced that he had signed with an agent and would enter the 2017 NFL Draft.

Professional career
McDowell received an invitation to the NFL Combine and completed every combine drill, except for the short shuttle and three-cone drill. He also participated at Michigan State's Pro Day, but chose to run only positional drills for scouts and team representatives in attendance. McDowell attended nine private workouts and visits with the Baltimore Ravens, Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions, Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles, Seattle Seahawks, and Washington Redskins. NFL draft experts and analysts projected McDowell to be a first round pick. He was ranked the top defensive tackle available in the draft by ESPN and NFL analyst Bucky Brooks, the second best defensive tackle by Sports Illustrated and Pro Football Focus, and was ranked the third best interior defensive lineman by NFL media analyst Mike Mayock.

The Seattle Seahawks selected McDowell in the second round (35th overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft. On May 25, 2017, the Seahawks signed McDowell to a four-year, $6.95 million contract with $4.40 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $3.19 million.

A few weeks prior to training camp, McDowell was involved in an ATV accident and was placed on the reserve/did not report list on July 30, 2017. He later returned to practice and was placed on the non-football injury list due to the injuries from the accident.

On July 26, 2018, McDowell was waived by the Seahawks with a non-football injury designation, and subsequently placed on the reserve/non-football injury list the next day.

On March 2, 2019, McDowell was officially released by the Seahawks.

On February 18, 2019 Malik got into a scuffle with Lathrup Village, Michigan police. McDowell was suspended for two games as a result of the incident.