Dillon Jeffrey Radunz (born March 28, 1998) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

for the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

North Dakota State North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota. It was founded as North Dakota Agricultural College in 1890 as th ...

and was drafted by the Titans in the second round in the

2021 NFL Draft The 2021 NFL Draft was the 86th National Football League Draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland from April 29 to May 1, 2021 ...

Early life and high school career

Radunz grew up mostly in

Becker, Minnesota Becker is a city in Sherburne County, Minnesota, between the Mississippi and Elk Rivers. The population was 4,877 at the 2020 census. Becker is located 46 miles northwest of Minneapolis and 19 miles southeast of St. Cloud. U.S. Highway 10 s ...

, after his family moved there when he was in first grade. He attended

Becker High School Becker High School is a public high school in Becker, Minnesota, United States. Becker High School enrolls grades 9-12 and has an enrollment of approximately 800 students. It is the only high school located in Minnesota Public School District 726 ...

, where he played basketball, football, and was a shot putter on the track and field team. He was a two year starter at both offensive tackle and defensive end for Becker as the team went 25–1 and won back-to-back state championships. As a senior Radunz, was named the All-Area Football Player of the Year by the '' St. Cloud Times'', East Central District North Division Most Valuable Player, and first-team All-State. He finished his high school career with 163 tackles, including 14 sacks. Radunz committed to play college football at

College career

Radunz

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

ed as a true freshman. He was named a starter going into his freshman season, but suffered a season ending knee injury after playing 17 snaps in the season opener. He was named second-team All-

Missouri Valley Football Conference The Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC), formerly the Gateway Football Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivis ...

(MVFC) and started 15 games as a redshirt sophomore. As a junior he played 682 snaps with 63 knockdowns and zero sacks allowed in 12 regular season games and started all 16 of the Bison's games and was named first-team All-MVFC and was a consensus first-team All-American selection. Radunz entered his redshirt senior season as a consensus preseason All-American. He started the only game of North Dakota State's fall season against

Central Arkansas Central Arkansas, also known as the Little Rock metro, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metro area in the U.S. state of ...

, as the MVFC postponed its season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Radunz attended and played in the 2021 Senior Bowl.

Professional career

Radunz was drafted by the

in the second round, 53rd overall, in the

. On May 13, Radunz signed his four-year rookie contract with Tennessee. He made his first career start at left tackle in Week 16 in place of an injured

Taylor Lewan Taylor Curtis Lewan (born July 22, 1991) is an American football tackle for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Michigan, where he twice received first-team All-American honors, and was sel ...

. Radunz entered the 2022 season as a backup guard behind Aaron Brewer and Nate Davis. He made four total starts at both guard spots due to injuries. He was placed on injured reserve on December 22, 2022.

References

External links

Tennessee Titans bioNorth Dakota State Bison bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Radunz, Dillon 1998 births Living people People from Becker, Minnesota Players of American football from Minnesota Sportspeople from the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area American football offensive tackles North Dakota State Bison football players Tennessee Titans players