Dzubnar, Koski Prepare for 2020 National Football League Season
9/8/2020 1:36:00 PM | Football
WKRN INTERVIEW WITH NICK DZUBNAR
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- The 2020 National Football League season opens later this week with one former Cal Poly player on a 53-man roster and one other on a 16-man practice squad.
Linebacker and special teams player Nick Dzubnar has a new home with a spot on the Tennessee Titans roster while wide receiver J.J. Koski has landed on the practice squad roster of the Los Angeles Rams.
Dzubnar reached an agreement with the Titans on a one-year contract in March after playing five seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers, primarily on special teams. The 28-year-old played 65 games with no starts, including all 32 games over the past two seasons. In his career, Dzubnar has seen action on 65 defensive snaps and 1,234 on special teams.
Dzubnar has 60 career tackles.
Last season, he made eight tackles in 16 games. He saw action on 332 special teams snaps and none on defense.
Undrafted out of Cal Poly in 2015, Dzubnar became a free agent following the 2019 campaign. He led the National Football League in special team tackles during the 2017 season, according to teamrankings.com.
Playing in 13 of the Los Angeles Chargers' 16 games one year after missing a dozen contests due to a knee injury, Dzubnar earned 21 total tackles on special teams, edging teammate Austin Ekeler by four stops for the top honor.
The Mission Viejo High School graduate was a first-team All-Big Sky Conference selection as a senior at Cal Poly in 2014 and also earned All-America honors from five media organizations after shattering the school record for tackles in a single season with 167.
An outside linebacker as a freshman and sophomore before moving to the middle in 2013, Dzubnar also led the Mustangs in tackles as a sophomore (107) and junior (112), becoming the second Mustang in the school's 21-year Division I history to record over 100 tackles three times. Jordan Beck was the other. Dzubnar played in all 47 games following his redshirt year in 2010, including 38 consecutive starts.
Dzubnar notched 18 career games with double-digit tackles, including a career-high 19 against South Dakota State in 2013, and finished with 414 career tackles, No. 2 all-time at the university. Dzubnar's career totals also include 24.0 tackles for lost yardage, 4.0 sacks, seven forced fumbles, five interceptions and 15 pass breakups.
Koski, who caught a touchdown pass from John Wolford in practice on August 27, was one of 17 Rams cut from the playing roster Friday. Another 10 players were trimmed Saturday to reach the 53-player limit. Practice squad sizes were increased from 10 to 16 this year.
Selected as Cal Poly's male athlete of the year earlier this summer, Koski signed a high priority free agent contract with the Los Angeles Rams hours after the 2020 NFL Draft in late April. He earned Cal Poly's most valuable player and most valuable offensive player awards following the 2019 season.
Koski was a first-team All-Big Sky Conference selection in November and also was named to Phil Steele's Big Sky Conference Team.
The 6-1, 195-pound fifth-year senior caught 42 passes for 868 yards and eight touchdowns in his final season as a Mustang last fall. With 121 receptions, 2,311 yards and 18 touchdowns in his Mustang career, the San Ramon Valley High School graduate is tied for fifth in touchdowns, No. 5 alone in receiving yards and No. 6 by himself in receptions.
His career highs were established in the UC Davis game in October when Koski caught eight passes for 163 yards. Another career high was set in the Eastern Washington contest in November as Koski scored three touchdowns.
Koski, Cal Poly's leading receiver for three consecutive seasons, was an all-Big Sky third-team selection a year ago and finished his career with a 19.1-yard average per reception, ninth in Cal Poly's Division I record book. He graduated last fall with a degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting.
In January, Koski became the first Cal Poly football player in six years to compete in an all-star game, making one catch and one tackle in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.
Stats.com reported Tuesday that 141 former NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision players are on NFL season-opening rosters and another 66 are signed to practice squads.
The list includes the likes of quarterbacks Carson Wentz (Philadelphia Eagles, North Dakota State) and Jimmy Garoppolo (San Francisco 49ers, Eastern Illinois) and wide receiver Cooper Kupp (Los Angeles Rams, Eastern Washington).
James Madison has the most players on 53-man active rosters with seven followed by Delaware, Harvard, North Dakota State and South Carolina State with six each. North Dakota State, the three-time defending national champion, has five players on practice squads, bringing its overall total to 11, the high among FCS programs.
All 32 NFL rosters have an FCS player. Twelve of the players will be in action Thursday night when the Houston Texans and Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs kick off the league's 101st season.
Photo of Nick Dzubnar courtesy of titanswire.usatoday.com; Photo of J.J. Koski courtesy of theramswire.usatoday.com
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- The 2020 National Football League season opens later this week with one former Cal Poly player on a 53-man roster and one other on a 16-man practice squad.
Linebacker and special teams player Nick Dzubnar has a new home with a spot on the Tennessee Titans roster while wide receiver J.J. Koski has landed on the practice squad roster of the Los Angeles Rams.
Dzubnar reached an agreement with the Titans on a one-year contract in March after playing five seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers, primarily on special teams. The 28-year-old played 65 games with no starts, including all 32 games over the past two seasons. In his career, Dzubnar has seen action on 65 defensive snaps and 1,234 on special teams.
Dzubnar has 60 career tackles.
Last season, he made eight tackles in 16 games. He saw action on 332 special teams snaps and none on defense.
Undrafted out of Cal Poly in 2015, Dzubnar became a free agent following the 2019 campaign. He led the National Football League in special team tackles during the 2017 season, according to teamrankings.com.
Playing in 13 of the Los Angeles Chargers' 16 games one year after missing a dozen contests due to a knee injury, Dzubnar earned 21 total tackles on special teams, edging teammate Austin Ekeler by four stops for the top honor.
The Mission Viejo High School graduate was a first-team All-Big Sky Conference selection as a senior at Cal Poly in 2014 and also earned All-America honors from five media organizations after shattering the school record for tackles in a single season with 167.
An outside linebacker as a freshman and sophomore before moving to the middle in 2013, Dzubnar also led the Mustangs in tackles as a sophomore (107) and junior (112), becoming the second Mustang in the school's 21-year Division I history to record over 100 tackles three times. Jordan Beck was the other. Dzubnar played in all 47 games following his redshirt year in 2010, including 38 consecutive starts.
Dzubnar notched 18 career games with double-digit tackles, including a career-high 19 against South Dakota State in 2013, and finished with 414 career tackles, No. 2 all-time at the university. Dzubnar's career totals also include 24.0 tackles for lost yardage, 4.0 sacks, seven forced fumbles, five interceptions and 15 pass breakups.
Koski, who caught a touchdown pass from John Wolford in practice on August 27, was one of 17 Rams cut from the playing roster Friday. Another 10 players were trimmed Saturday to reach the 53-player limit. Practice squad sizes were increased from 10 to 16 this year.
Selected as Cal Poly's male athlete of the year earlier this summer, Koski signed a high priority free agent contract with the Los Angeles Rams hours after the 2020 NFL Draft in late April. He earned Cal Poly's most valuable player and most valuable offensive player awards following the 2019 season.
Koski was a first-team All-Big Sky Conference selection in November and also was named to Phil Steele's Big Sky Conference Team.
The 6-1, 195-pound fifth-year senior caught 42 passes for 868 yards and eight touchdowns in his final season as a Mustang last fall. With 121 receptions, 2,311 yards and 18 touchdowns in his Mustang career, the San Ramon Valley High School graduate is tied for fifth in touchdowns, No. 5 alone in receiving yards and No. 6 by himself in receptions.
His career highs were established in the UC Davis game in October when Koski caught eight passes for 163 yards. Another career high was set in the Eastern Washington contest in November as Koski scored three touchdowns.
Koski, Cal Poly's leading receiver for three consecutive seasons, was an all-Big Sky third-team selection a year ago and finished his career with a 19.1-yard average per reception, ninth in Cal Poly's Division I record book. He graduated last fall with a degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting.
In January, Koski became the first Cal Poly football player in six years to compete in an all-star game, making one catch and one tackle in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.
Stats.com reported Tuesday that 141 former NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision players are on NFL season-opening rosters and another 66 are signed to practice squads.
The list includes the likes of quarterbacks Carson Wentz (Philadelphia Eagles, North Dakota State) and Jimmy Garoppolo (San Francisco 49ers, Eastern Illinois) and wide receiver Cooper Kupp (Los Angeles Rams, Eastern Washington).
James Madison has the most players on 53-man active rosters with seven followed by Delaware, Harvard, North Dakota State and South Carolina State with six each. North Dakota State, the three-time defending national champion, has five players on practice squads, bringing its overall total to 11, the high among FCS programs.
All 32 NFL rosters have an FCS player. Twelve of the players will be in action Thursday night when the Houston Texans and Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs kick off the league's 101st season.
Photo of Nick Dzubnar courtesy of titanswire.usatoday.com; Photo of J.J. Koski courtesy of theramswire.usatoday.com
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