TicketsLinebacker Joel Dublanko has played in all 39 of Cincinnati's games over the last three seasons. He's also excelled in the classroom, earning his degree in Biology in April.
But he's never had the opportunity to start until this season.
"I'm extremely excited," he said. "I've been working really hard for a long period of time and I'm excited to show what I can do and be the best teammate I can be."
The senior from Aberdeen, WA has big shoes to fill as he's expected to replace Bryan Wright at middle linebacker. Wright earned first-team All-AAC honors last year, finished second on the team in tackles, and earned a training camp invitation from the Kansas City Chiefs.
Wright has confidence in his successor.
"He's one of the most focused kids I've ever been around to be honest," said Wright. "He's a genuine guy and somebody to look up to on-and-off the field. He's a positive leader.
"When I was here, if I didn't want to practice he would say, 'Come on bro.' Now he's the leader of the defense and I feel like he's going to have a great senior year."
Dublanko admits that it wasn't always easy to be on the second team.
"Last year I worked really hard," said Dublanko. "Every day I tried to beat B. Wright out for the starting spot and things fell the way that they did. So I went to (Defensive Coordinator Marcus) Freeman and said, 'I worked my butt off last year, but I have to do more this year.' To go to a place that you've never been, you have to do the stuff that you've never done before to get there."
Dublanko is likely to be followed on the depth chart by converted tight end Wilson Huber who made the transition to defense in the practices leading up to the Birmingham Bowl victory over Boston College.
"I'm really happy with what Joel Dublanko and Wil Huber have done," said head coach Luke Fickell. "They're going to be the catalysts to lead what we do defensively, because Coach Freeman and I are adamant about the middle linebacker being able to control things."
In addition to losing Wright, the Bearcats also have to replace weakside linebacker Perry Young who earned first-team All-AAC honors in each of the last two seasons. Dublanko says the current linebackers on the roster know that their position group is the biggest question mark on defense.
"We've definitely talked about how we're pretty much good on all fronts on defense, but we lost a couple of big production guys with Perry and B. Wright," he said. "The new starters like myself are going to have to step up along with the other guys around us to make up for that production."
"We might not have the 85 snaps a game that Bryan Wright or Perry Young gave us, but I think in the long run we could be a lot better with our ability to play some different guys and keep 'em fresh," said Fickell.
Dublanko spent his final year of high school at prep powerhouse IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL where his teammates included current NFL players Isaac Nauta (Detroit) and Cesar Ruiz (New Orleans) as well as former Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson. After seeing them excel at the college level, Joel is looking forward to his chance to shine.
"The only thing you can do when you've been in the position that I've been in is to keep working and keep getting better until you get the opportunity to show what you can do," he said. "Then you've got to take it and run with it."
I'd love to hear from you at Dan.Hoard@Bengals.nfl.net
If you're on Twitter, you can follow my tweets at http://twitter.com/Dan_Hoard
UC OPENS 2020 ON SATURDAY, SEPT. 19
UC, ranked No. 20 in the AP preseason poll and No. 22 in the USA Today poll, return 16 of 22 starters on the offensive and defensive side of the ball and 13 of the team's top 15 tacklers from the 2019 team which won 11 games, the AAC East Division title and the Birmingham Bowl. The Bearcats ended the season ranked No. 21 in all three major polls, won 11 games for only the fourth time in the program's 132 seasons and had back-to-back 11-win seasons for only the second time in school history.
The Bearcats are slated to open 2020 on Saturday, Sept. 19 against Austin Peay at Noon ET inside Nippert Stadium. The game will be televised by ESPN+ and air on 700 WLW AM.
FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
For all the latest information on Cincinnati football, please visit GoBEARCATS.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow Cincinnati football (@GoBearcatsFB) and Coach Fickell (@CoachFick) on Twitter. You can also find the Bearcats on Instagram and Facebook.
But he's never had the opportunity to start until this season.
"I'm extremely excited," he said. "I've been working really hard for a long period of time and I'm excited to show what I can do and be the best teammate I can be."
The senior from Aberdeen, WA has big shoes to fill as he's expected to replace Bryan Wright at middle linebacker. Wright earned first-team All-AAC honors last year, finished second on the team in tackles, and earned a training camp invitation from the Kansas City Chiefs.
Wright has confidence in his successor.
"He's one of the most focused kids I've ever been around to be honest," said Wright. "He's a genuine guy and somebody to look up to on-and-off the field. He's a positive leader.
"When I was here, if I didn't want to practice he would say, 'Come on bro.' Now he's the leader of the defense and I feel like he's going to have a great senior year."
Dublanko admits that it wasn't always easy to be on the second team.
"Last year I worked really hard," said Dublanko. "Every day I tried to beat B. Wright out for the starting spot and things fell the way that they did. So I went to (Defensive Coordinator Marcus) Freeman and said, 'I worked my butt off last year, but I have to do more this year.' To go to a place that you've never been, you have to do the stuff that you've never done before to get there."
Dublanko is likely to be followed on the depth chart by converted tight end Wilson Huber who made the transition to defense in the practices leading up to the Birmingham Bowl victory over Boston College.
"I'm really happy with what Joel Dublanko and Wil Huber have done," said head coach Luke Fickell. "They're going to be the catalysts to lead what we do defensively, because Coach Freeman and I are adamant about the middle linebacker being able to control things."
In addition to losing Wright, the Bearcats also have to replace weakside linebacker Perry Young who earned first-team All-AAC honors in each of the last two seasons. Dublanko says the current linebackers on the roster know that their position group is the biggest question mark on defense.
"We've definitely talked about how we're pretty much good on all fronts on defense, but we lost a couple of big production guys with Perry and B. Wright," he said. "The new starters like myself are going to have to step up along with the other guys around us to make up for that production."
"We might not have the 85 snaps a game that Bryan Wright or Perry Young gave us, but I think in the long run we could be a lot better with our ability to play some different guys and keep 'em fresh," said Fickell.
Dublanko spent his final year of high school at prep powerhouse IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL where his teammates included current NFL players Isaac Nauta (Detroit) and Cesar Ruiz (New Orleans) as well as former Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson. After seeing them excel at the college level, Joel is looking forward to his chance to shine.
"The only thing you can do when you've been in the position that I've been in is to keep working and keep getting better until you get the opportunity to show what you can do," he said. "Then you've got to take it and run with it."
I'd love to hear from you at Dan.Hoard@Bengals.nfl.net
If you're on Twitter, you can follow my tweets at http://twitter.com/Dan_Hoard
UC OPENS 2020 ON SATURDAY, SEPT. 19
UC, ranked No. 20 in the AP preseason poll and No. 22 in the USA Today poll, return 16 of 22 starters on the offensive and defensive side of the ball and 13 of the team's top 15 tacklers from the 2019 team which won 11 games, the AAC East Division title and the Birmingham Bowl. The Bearcats ended the season ranked No. 21 in all three major polls, won 11 games for only the fourth time in the program's 132 seasons and had back-to-back 11-win seasons for only the second time in school history.
The Bearcats are slated to open 2020 on Saturday, Sept. 19 against Austin Peay at Noon ET inside Nippert Stadium. The game will be televised by ESPN+ and air on 700 WLW AM.
FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
For all the latest information on Cincinnati football, please visit GoBEARCATS.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow Cincinnati football (@GoBearcatsFB) and Coach Fickell (@CoachFick) on Twitter. You can also find the Bearcats on Instagram and Facebook.