Gabriel Knapton

Gabriel Knapton (born May 10, 1989) is an American professional gridiron football defensive end who is currently a free agent. He played for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL) from 2018 to 2019.

Gabriel Knapton
Free agent
Position:Defensive end
Personal information
Born: (1989-05-10) May 10, 1989
Mead, Colorado
Height:6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight:263 lb (119 kg)
Career information
High school:Skyline High School
College:Wyoming
Undrafted:2012
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career CFL statistics as of 2019
Tackles:201
Quarterback sacks:36
Forced Fumbles:2
Player stats at CFL.ca

College career

Knapton played college football for the Wyoming Cowboys from 2007 to 2011. He was named an All-Mountain West Conference Honorable Mention for the 2010 season.[1] In 2011, Knapton was named Second Team All-Mountain West.[2]

Professional career

Knapton played for the Colorado Ice in 2013. In 11 regular season games, Knapton recorded 81 tackles and 9 sacks, and was recognized as a first team All-IFL player.[3]

Knapton signed with the Montreal Alouettes in June 2014.[4] Following a strong season for Montreal, Knapton was honored as the team's rookie of the year, and being nominated for the league rookie of the year in the process. Knapton recorded 9 sacks and a forced fumble, plus one more sack in the playoffs.[5] Knapton had two more strong campaigns for Montreal, with 11 sacks in 2015 and 9 more in 2016.

2017 was a down year for Knapton statistically, with only 3 sacks in 17 games played. In December 2017, following the end of the season Montreal traded Knapton to the BC Lions in exchange for Chris Williams.[6] Knapton played in 8 games for BC in 2018, recording 15 tackles, the first special teams tackle of his CFL career, and one more sack. However, after acquiring Shawn Lemon in a trade,[7] BC released Knapton so as to avoid paying the remainder of his contract, which would have become guaranteed after one more week of play.[8] Montreal signed Knapton back on August 27, to help make up for the loss of Jamaal Westerman in the Johnny Manziel trade, and injuries to Jabar Westerman.[9] Knapton rebounded well in five games for Montreal, recording a sack in three consecutive games to end his season, as well as his 200th career tackle.

After several weeks of CFL free agency, Knapton signed a one-year extension with Montreal on April 4, 2019, coinciding with Jabar Westerman's release.[10] However, by the end of training camp, Knapton was released by the Alouettes.[11] Following the regular season, Knapton was signed back to Montreal's practice roster, later being activated to the active roster for the playoffs.[12]

References
  1. "Eight Wyoming Football Players Earn All-Mountain West Conference Recognition – University of Wyoming". University of Wyoming.
  2. "Eleven Wyoming Football Players Earn All-MWC Recognition – University of Wyoming". University of Wyoming.
  3. "DakStats WebSync". www.dakstats.com.
  4. staff, Star-Tribune. "Former Wyoming DE Knapton signs with Montreal Alouettes".
  5. "Alumni corner: Gabe Knapton thrives in rookie CFL season".
  6. "Lions send Chris Williams to Als in trade for Gabriel Knapton – CFL.ca". December 12, 2017.
  7. "Lions release defensive lineman Gabriel Knapton". 21 August 2018.
  8. Dunk, Justin. "Lions release DL Gabriel Knapton - 3DownNation".
  9. "Gabriel Knapton back with the Alouettes". 27 August 2018.
  10. "Alouettes sign defensive-end Gabriel Knapton and cornerback Marcus Cromartie". Montreal Gazette. 4 April 2019.
  11. "Les Alouettes ont libéré Gabriel Knapton et ont placé Hugo Richard sur l'équipe d'entraînement". RDS.ca. June 8, 2019.
  12. "Veteran Alouettes rush-end John Bowman relishes return to CFL playoffs | Montreal Gazette". November 7, 2019.


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