#45

Joseph Zelinsky

Senior defensive lineman for Pittsburgh. 2025: 2 sacks, 4.5 tackles for loss, 23 tackles.

DL · Pittsburgh · Sr. · #45

6′4″ · 250 lb · Cressona, PA

CFB Index 32 · #317 of 420 edge rushersLow confidenceReturning to Pittsburgh for 2026

How he plays

Wins his gap play after play.

QB hurries: 82nd percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

sacks · 2025

4.5 TFL · 23 tackles · 3 hurries

Best game: 1 sacks, 1 TFL, 2 tackles, vs Duquesne

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive lineman for Pittsburgh. 2025: 2 sacks, 4.5 tackles for loss, 23 tackles.

Signed with Eastern Michigan in 2022.
2 sacks in 2024. Then 2 in 2025.

His career, year by year

Joseph Zelinsky

DL · Pittsburgh · Sr · #45

Wins his gap play after play. Joseph Zelinsky has played for two head coaches across four seasons and two programs. One game to point at: 5 tackles against Notre Dame — Week 12, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2022Eastern Michigan9-4HC: Chris Creighton · Run-leaning

2023Eastern Michigan6-7HC: Chris Creighton · Run-leaning, slow tempo

2024Eastern Michigan5-7HC: Chris Creighton · Run-leaning

2025Pittsburgh8-5HC: Pat Narduzzi · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

32Below cohort / limited sample #317 of 420?

Medium confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: qb hurries (82nd percentile). Concern: passes defended (18th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

QB hurries#457 / 2975 · 82nd pct

Sacks#487 / 2975 · 80th pct

2.0

Tackles for loss#648 / 2975 · 77th pct

4.5

Tackles#1813 / 2975 · 38th pct

Solo tackles#1996 / 2975 · 31st pct

Passes defended#1916 / 2975 · 18th pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 10 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home7g	2.4	0.3	0.2	0.0
Road3g	2.0	0.8	0.2	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-74g	2.0	0.5	0.4	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	2.5	0.4	0.1	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Pat Narduzzi

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Rotational

Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

32 · #317 of 420 edge rushers

Unranked recruit. Now #317 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-ACC

Based on 2025: #59 of 73 ACC DLs

How the All-ACC estimate is computed

15% estimated, 95% confidence interval 13–17%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Pittsburgh	23	10	4.5	2.0	--	--	--
2024	Eastern Michigan	30	13	5.5	2.0	1	--	--
2023	Eastern Michigan	37	17	6.0	2.0	--	--	--
2022	Eastern Michigan	11	3	0.5	0.0	--	--	--
Career		101	43	16.5	6.0	1	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 13 · 2025

W 42–28

at Georgia Tech

2 TOT · 1 SOLO · 1 TFL

Edged out Georgia Tech on the road in a shootout.

With M. Heintschel — 226 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · QBR 77.8 · -29 rush yds (10 car) · 1 TD · J. Turner — 201 rush yds (21 car) · 1 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	Note
Wk 1	W 61-9vs Duquesne	2	2	1.0	1.0	—
Wk 2	W 45-17vs Central Michigan	2	0	1.0	0.5	—
Wk 5	L 27-34vs Louisville	3	2	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 6	W 48-7vs Boston College	1	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 8	W 30-13@ Syracuse	1	1	1.0	0.0	—
Wk 9	W 53-34vs NC State	1	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 10	W 35-20@ Stanford	3	0	0.5	0.5	—
Wk 12	L 15-37vs Notre Dame	5	3	0.0	0.0	—	Season-high 5 tackles
Wk 13	W 42-28@ Georgia Tech	2	1	1.0	0.0	—
Wk 14	L 7-38vs Miami	3	0	0.0	0.0	—
Total		23	10	4.5	2.0	—

How he plays

Play style

Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

10 games

23Tackles

10Solo

4.5TFL

2Sacks

0Pass def.

0INT

23 tackles. 0 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 4.5 TFL.

Week 11 sack
Week 20.5 sacks
Week 100.5 sacks

Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.

2026 Outlook

Pittsburgh

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive line · Pittsburgh

Returning around him

1 Pittsburgh player drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: -5 net (16 in / 21 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

Pittsburgh · Last season: 8-5 (AP #24) · Talent rank #64 · 2026 recruiting class #44

DNA match

Player DNA

Two-Gap Base

Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.

IDL

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Eddie Walls III’s 2025 season.

Eddie Walls III

89%match

Houston · 2025

Joseph Zelinsky

Eastern Michigan · 2024

89%

Javontae Jean-Baptiste

Notre Dame · 2023

NFL Rd 7

86%

Korey Foreman

Fresno State · 2024

85%

Caiden Woullard

Oklahoma · 2024

84%

Matches Eddie on

Class year

Height

Hurry rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to George Gumbs's senior season at Florida (2025).

George Gumbs

89%match

Florida · 2025

Eddie Walls III

Houston · 2025

88%

Korey Foreman

Fresno State · 2024

86%

Phillip Lee

Arkansas · 2025

85%

Javontae Jean-Baptiste

Notre Dame · 2023

NFL Rd 7

84%

Matches George on

Class year

Height

Hurry rate

Player DNA

Players who play like Joseph Zelinsky

Myles Mendeszoon

Iowa State · 2023

96%

David Ugwoegbu

Houston · 2023

94%

Carter Evans

Eastern Michigan · 2024

93%

Eddie Walls III

Houston · 2025

89%

Mukendi Wa-Kalonji

Colorado State · 2024

89%

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology

20227 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Rotational

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Two-Gap Base

Players who play like Joseph Zelinsky