Joseph Zelinsky is a defensive lineman who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at Pittsburgh.
Zelinsky wins the gap play after play. Played for two head coaches across four seasons and two programs. One game to point at: 5 tackles against Notre Dame — Week 12, 2025.
Play style
Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
23 tackles. 0 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 4.5 TFL.
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.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
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| 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 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 10 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 61-9vs Duquesne | 2 | 2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 45-17vs Central Michigan | 2 | 0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 27-34vs Louisville | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | W 48-7vs Boston College | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 30-13@ Syracuse | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | W 53-34vs NC State | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | W 35-20@ Stanford | 3 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | L 15-37vs No. 9 Notre Dame | 5 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 5 tackles |
| Wk 13 | W 42-28@ No. 15 Georgia Tech | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | L 7-38vs No. 13 Miami | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 23 | 10 | 4.5 | 2.0 | — | 0 |
Week 1 · 2025
W 61-9
vs Duquesne
1 sack · 1 tackle for loss · 2 tackles
Dominant 52-point win at home against Duquesne.
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
TFL rate
20%4 TFLSack rate
9%2 sacksHurry rate
13%3 hurries23 tackles · 4.5 for loss · 2 sacks.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 10 games
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
Head Coach
Pat Narduzzi
Pass share
52.3%
464 pass / 424 run
Plays / game
68.3
13 games
Team sack rate
7.1%
478 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2025
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS defensive linemen who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Unranked recruit. Now #317 at the position.
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-ACC
Based on 2025: #59 of 73 ACC DLs
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 15% of returning players who ranked #21 or lower at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 13–17%).
A stat line in 40 games over four seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2022–2025
2 coachesPlayed for 2 head coaches at 2 schools: Chris Creighton and Pat Narduzzi.
