Two-way lineman Gus Zilinskas commits to Rutgers football

Rutgers football added it’s fifth commit in the past eight days on Thursday, as two-way lineman Guz Zilinskas pledged to the program.

Zilinskas is a 6’3”, 263 pound prospect from Englewood, Colorado. He earned First Team All-State honors as a junior after leading the defense for a state champion team, Cherry Creek high school. Zilinskas produced 80 tackles on the season, including 11 tackles for loss and eight sacks per Todderick Hunt of NJ Advance Media. With a big frame and a penchant for making plays, Zilinskas could develop into a Big Ten caliber on either side of the ball, whether it’s defensive tackle or on the offensive line, most likely at center.

While he isn’t rated by every major recruiting service and thus doesn’t have a composite ranking from 247 Sports, their individual rank lists Zilinskas as a 3-star recruit who is the 27th best prospect in the 2021 class in Colorado, as well as the 23rd best center nationally. He holds offers from several MAC and Ivy programs, as well as Colorado State, but chose to come to Rutgers after several virtual tours with the coaching staff the past couple of months.

A common thread under Greg Schiano 2.0 in adding players to the program is many are strong academically as well, as Zilinskas has a reported 3.5 GPA. He also has a good family pedigree, as his father played football at UCLA.

The 2021 recruiting class for Rutgers now has 17 commits, nine of which are from New Jersey. Per 247 Composite rankings, the Scarlet Knights currently have the 17th best class nationally and 7th best in the Big Ten in the 2021 recruiting cycle.

Here are junior season highlights for Zilinskas.