{"id":85771,"date":"2020-04-19T15:30:06","date_gmt":"2020-04-19T19:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/?p=85771"},"modified":"2021-03-14T15:13:29","modified_gmt":"2021-03-14T19:13:29","slug":"derrek-tuszka-2020-nfl-draft-profile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2020\/04\/19\/derrek-tuszka-2020-nfl-draft-profile\/","title":{"rendered":"Derrek Tuszka 2020 NFL Draft Profile"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Derrek Tuszka Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Position: <\/strong>EDGE<br \/>\n<strong>Height: <\/strong>6\u2019-4\u201d<br \/>\n<strong>Weight: <\/strong>251 pounds<br \/>\n<strong>School: <\/strong>North Dakota State<\/p>\n<p><strong>NFL Combine Performance Data<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>40 Yard Dash: <\/strong>4.79 seconds<br \/>\n<strong>Bench Press: <\/strong>24 reps<br \/>\n<strong>Vertical Jump: <\/strong>33.5\u201d<br \/>\n<strong>Broad Jump: <\/strong>120.0\u201d<br \/>\n<strong>3 Cone Drill<\/strong>: 6.87 seconds<br \/>\n<strong>20 Yard Shuttle: <\/strong>4.34 seconds<\/p>\n<h2>Derrek Tuszka 2020 NFL Draft Profile<\/h2>\n<p>After spending the past five seasons with the North Dakota State Bisons, edge defender Derrek Tuszka is hoping to take his game to the NFL level. The 6\u2019-4\u201d, 251-pound defender is coming off the best season of his young career. Appearing in 521 snaps, Tuszka recorded 15 sacks, 13 quarterback hits, 28 hurries, and 11 run stops. While the relatively underwhelming level of competition inflated his stats, this was still an impressive season by just about every measure.<\/p>\n<p>Tuszka initially entered the world of college football as an unranked prospect. Despite the poor rating, North Dakota State saw something they like in the South Dakota native and offered him a scholarship. He had his first breakout season in 2018, recording eight sacks, eight quarterback hits, 22 hurries, and 23 run stops on 445 defensive snaps.<\/p>\n<h3>Strengths<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Fantastic on-field production over the past two seasons;<\/li>\n<li>Smooth, fluid movement that will be hard for stiffer offensive linemen to match;<\/li>\n<li>Good at avoiding first contact from offensive linemen;<\/li>\n<li>Above-average bend and ability to speed around the tackle;<\/li>\n<li>Can drop into coverage in a pinch;<\/li>\n<li>Tested well at the NFL Combine;<\/li>\n<li>High-motor type of guy that always chases the play down.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Weaknesses<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Small build with no true position;<\/li>\n<li>Wins exclusively with speed \u2013 not much power in his game;<\/li>\n<li>Statistics artificially inflated by weak competition;<\/li>\n<li>Arm length in the third percentile among defensive linemen;<\/li>\n<li>Struggles to get off blockers when first engaged.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>NFL Comparison: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/H\/HendTr00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Trey Hendrickson<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Teams With Need at Position: <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/cardinals\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Arizona Cardinals<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/bills\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Buffalo Bills<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/bengals\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cincinnati Bengals<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/browns\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cleveland Browns<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/lions\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Detroit Lions<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/colts\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Indianapolis Colts<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/dolphins\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Miami Dolphins<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/giants\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">New York Giants<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/eagles\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Philadelphia Eagles<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/buccaneers\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tampa Bay Buccanee<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/buccaneers\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">rs<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Projection: <\/strong>4<sup>th<\/sup>\/5<sup>th<\/sup> Round<\/p>\n<h3>Bottom Line on Derrek Tuszka<\/h3>\n<p>Derrek Tuszka is a mid- to late-round prospect that actually has a decent chance of panning out at the NFL level. The North Dakota State product dominated during his final two years at college and appeared unblockable at times. While a lot of that had to do with the level of competition he faced, he has plenty of traits that should translate to the NFL. Combine results can be overrated, but it\u2019s important for prospects to meet a minimum athletic threshold. Tuszka not only meets that, but he actually <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mockdraftable.com\/player\/derrek-tuszka\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">outperformed expectations<\/a>. The way he plays should translate as well, as he\u2019s a fluid rusher with good bend that should be able to get past offensive tackles.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a lot to like about Tuszka, but there\u2019s also quite a bit standing in his way. Thanks to his underwhelming build, Tuszka doesn\u2019t project as someone that can make a big difference as a run defender. There\u2019s no power to his game and he probably won\u2019t ever develop into a three-down starter. Additionally, his small arms are an issue and he struggles to shed blocks when offensive linemen engage him. Ultimately, he should be a solid rotational pass-rusher that is well worth a late-round investment.<\/p>\n<p>Main photo:<br \/>\n<a id=\"LWZZXkV3Q5x9npR4O1hWdA\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1165932256\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'LWZZXkV3Q5x9npR4O1hWdA',sig:'RBot-UZH6LDyTWGBcxbyQeciKkzz2undadEamVh8TG0=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1165932256',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After spending his collegiate career with North Dakota State, edge defender Derrek Tuszka hopes to continue his career in the 2020 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2376,"featured_media":85772,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1647],"tags":[5273],"class_list":["post-85771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-draft","tag-2020-nfl-draft"],"modified_by":"David Latham, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2376"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85771\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}