Denver Broncos: Which pass rushers are making the team in 2021?
Derrek Tuszka
The Denver Broncos used a seventh-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft on North Dakota State’s star pass rusher Derrek Tuszka, and unfortunately, we never got to really see a big sample of Tuszka putting in work without preseason play in 2020.
At North Dakota State, Tuszka was dominant. He was a first-team All-American in 2019 and the Missouri Conference Defensive Player of the Year, but the NFL is a whole different ballgame compared to North Dakota State, although they deserve due respect as an FCS powerhouse.
At 251 pounds, Tuszka was undoubtedly on the light side coming out of college, and the Denver Broncos needed him to get stronger. It will be fascinating to see what kind of strides Tuszka will have made having a year in the Denver Broncos’ strength and conditioning program.
With pick 254 in the 2020 NFL Draft, the #Broncos selected Derrek Tuszka, DE, North Dakota State.
— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) April 25, 2020
He posted a great #RAS with okay size, good speed, good explosiveness, great agility at the DE position.https://t.co/J3pLMkBxZ5#BroncosCountry pic.twitter.com/1xeoLZhm0t
He did appear in nine games as a rookie, racking up six tackles and a tackle for loss but we did not see much from him in the pass rush department.
Preseason play will again be critical for Tuszka in 2021, who obviously is a player the Broncos like quite a bit.
Already an outstanding athlete, it will be really interesting to see if the Broncos ask Tuszka to bulk up to somewhere around 260 pounds because it seems like Vic Fangio and Ed Donatell like bigger edge guys with Von Miller being somewhat of an exception there.
Tuszka has tremendous strength, agility, speed, and explosiveness for his position group. He’s going to be expected to make strides in year two not only as a special teams player, but especially as a pass rusher.