Derrek
Tuszka.
Derrek
Tuszka.
North Dakota St.· 6'4"· 251 lb· 4.79s 40
"Denver drafted North Dakota State's four-time champion edge rusher at No. 254, and he played three NFL seasons as a rotational outside linebacker with two sacks."Pre-draft read
Tuszka was a defensive end in North Dakota State's four-man front, a 6-4, roughly 246-pounder who started for three of the Bison's four national title teams. His primary trait was pass-rush production: he won with effort, hand usage and an ability to bend the edge, piling up 13.5 sacks and 19 tackles for loss as a senior.
His secondary trait was a relentless motor, chasing plays from the backside and finishing. His size projected him as a stand-up outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme. His signature was the 2019 season that earned him MVFC Defensive Player of the Year and unanimous FCS All-America honors.
3-4 front that lets a high-motor stand-up rusher win with bend and effort in sub packages.
Year 1: special teams player and rotational rusher. Ceiling: situational pass rusher.
4-3 front that asks its ends to set a hard edge against the run with size on every down.
His bend and motor fit best as a stand-up rusher in sub packages.
The BEST Pass RUSHER You've NEVER Heard Of || NDSU DE Derrek Tuszka Highlights
His North Dakota State career as a pass rusher.
Derrek Tuszka || Welcome to Denver || North Dakota State Career Highlights
Career highlights after his selection by Denver.
Tuszka projected as a productive, high-motor FCS edge rusher whose size and competition level made him a late-round developmental outside linebacker. Evaluators liked his production, hand use and bend, but questioned his length and ability to set the edge against NFL tackles.
A three-year starter at North Dakota State, he played in 53 games with 34 starts and won four FCS national championships. He finished his career with 133 tackles, 42 tackles for loss, 29.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and six passes defensed. As a senior he made 48 tackles, 19 for loss, 13.5 sacks, a forced fumble and five passes defensed, earning MVFC Defensive Player of the Year and unanimous FCS All-America honors. The flags were his FCS competition, his size at the point of attack and his lack of elite length.
Most boards viewed him as a late-round rotational rusher. Denver took him at No. 254 as a developmental outside linebacker for its 3-4 front. The Broncos valued his production and technique, betting that his motor and bend would earn him a special teams role and pass-rush snaps in sub packages.
- 01
Pass-rush production
Recorded 29.5 career sacks and 42 tackles for loss at North Dakota State, including 13.5 sacks as a senior.
- 02
Relentless motor
Chased plays from the backside and finished, producing pressures through effort as well as technique.
- 03
Hand usage and bend
Used active hands and a good dip to turn the corner, winning with technique rather than size.
- 04
Winning pedigree
Won four FCS national championships and started 34 games for the dominant program in the subdivision.
- 05
Decorated senior year
Earned MVFC Defensive Player of the Year and unanimous FCS All-America honors in 2019.
- 01
FCS competition
Produced against FCS tackles, leaving questions about how his rush would translate to NFL blockers.
- 02
Size at the point
At about 246 pounds he could be moved off the edge by bigger tackles and tight ends in the run game.
- 03
Length
Lacked elite arm length, making it harder to keep blockers off his frame and to convert speed to power.
- 04
Position change
Played hand-down end in college but projected to stand-up outside linebacker, a new role to learn.
Relative Athletic Score (Kent Lee Platte) benchmarks combine/pro-day numbers against every measured prospect at the position since 1987. 10.00 is elite; 5.00 is average.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.79sp50
- Vertical
- 33.5inp50
- Broad jump
- 120inp50
- Three-cone
- 6.87sp50
- Shuttle
- 4.34sp50
- Bench
- 24repp50
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | North Dakota State | — | 48 | 13.5 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| Career | — | 53 | 133 | 29.5 | 0 | 6 | 3 |
Career totals (53 games, 34 starts, 133 tackles, 42 TFL, 29.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, six passes defensed) and the 2019 line are from Wikipedia and North Dakota State. Earlier season splits could not be verified and are left blank.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
The realized outcome: a rotational edge and special teamer.
Undersized, high-motor rusher who earned a rotational role.
Small-school edge whose production never translated to the NFL.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Tuszka played for Denver as a rookie in 2020, then spent 2021 with Pittsburgh and 2022 with Tennessee and the Los Angeles Chargers. He finished his NFL career with 40 tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble, working as a rotational outside linebacker and special teams player. His most extensive action came as a depth rusher, where his effort showed even against bigger NFL tackles.
In hindsight the pick returned solid value for a No. 254 selection. The motor and technique evaluators praised earned him three seasons with four organizations and real defensive snaps, while the size and length concerns flagged before the draft kept him from becoming more than a rotational rusher. He never approached his college production, but two NFL sacks and three seasons in the league are a good return for one of the final picks, and his four FCS titles made him one of the most decorated players in the class.