Englewood (CO) Cherry Creek High School two-star offensive lineman Gus Zilinskas has officially signed his letter of intent and is now a Rutgers Scarlet Knight.
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Statistics
• This past season, his senior year, Zilinskas played in six game and accumulated 31 total tackles, four tackles for loss and one sack.
• In 2019, his junior year, Zilinskas played in 12 games and managed to rack up 72 total tackles, 10 tackles for loss and six sacks.
Recruitment
• Originally pledged to Rutgers on May 21, 2020.
• Chose Rutgers over 13 offers from the likes of Army, Colorado State, Eastern Michigan, Ohio, UNLV, Wyoming, Yale and others.
Honors
• 2019 CHSAANow.com’s first team all-state DL
Did You Know?
• His father, John, played his college ball at UCLA and was an offensive guard for the Bruins during the Troy Aikman years.
• Zilinskas is the first Colorado native to sign with Rutgers in the Rivals era.
They Said It
• Cherry Creek head coach Dave Logan: “He has the ability to play on either side of the ball. This is going to be my 28th year as coach and there have been very few kids that I’ve coached with that kind of ability. He plays defensive line for us but if they decide to make him an offensive lineman, he’d be a very good player there as well. He’s never the kid that will lead to you getting a phone call in the middle of the night from someone saying that something happened or that he got in trouble. That’s not him. He’s a good leader and he’s very popular in the locker room. If we decide to have practice at 4:30 a.m., he’ll be there at 4:15. He does whatever we need him to do.”
• TKR Film Analyst Anthony Siciliano: "As a defensive tackle, Zilinskas displays quick snap reaction in disrupting the play from occurring. He plays with a low center of gravity and violent hands, allowing him to shed blockers to find the ball carrier. Zillinskas is used as a fullback at his high school, but will be projected as an offensive guard at the collegiate level. When looking at his technique as a blocker, he does a nice job with his hand placement, shooting it inside the chest plate of the defender while getting his leverage downhill at the point of attack. What impresses me the most with Zillinskas from playing on both sides of the football is his toughness and ability to play through the whistle. Improvement can be made on his knee/hip bend on outside pass rushes so he can maintain the necessary speed and balance to get around the edge. This will allow him to flatten his line of pursuit when attacking the quarterback on pass rushes. Overall, the versatility that Zilinskas brings in impacting both sides of the football should set him up for a nice future on the banks."
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