Former Michigan State defensive end Jacub Panasiuk signs undrafted free agent deal

Defensive end Jacub Panasiuk played five years with the Michigan State Spartans, but he did not hears his name called in the 2022 NFL Draft. On Sunday, though, On3’s Matt Zenitz reported that Panasiuk has signed an undrafted free agent deal with the Washington Commanders.

“The Washington Commanders are signing former Michigan State defensive end Jacub Panasiuk, a source tells @on3sports,” Zenitz tweeted.

Panasiuk first came to Michigan State as a three-star recruit, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average. He was a top 50 defensive lineman in the 2017 class and a top ten player out of the state of Illinois.

At Michigan State, Panasiuk was a solid contributor for all five years of his career. He had 17 tackles with 2.5 tackles for loss and one sack as a freshman in 2017, and then improved to 30 tackles with 4.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, one forced fumble and one pass defended in 2018. In 2019, he had 34 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and one pass defended, and he put up 25 tackles with 2.5 tackles for loss, one sack, and one pass defended in 2020.

The 2021 season was the most productive year of Panasiuk’s collegiate career. He played in 11 games, totaling 37 tackles with 11 tackles for loss, seven sacks, three passes defended, one forced fumble, and two fumble recoveries.

Panasiuk will likely provide depth on the Commanders defensive line

The strongest part of Washington’s roster is undoubtedly its defensive front. At defensive end, the Commanders have Chase Young and Montez Sweat as starters, with a long list of backups in James Smith-Williams, Efe Obada, Casey Toohill, Shaka Toney, and others.

At the very least, Panasiuk should provide valuable depth for the Commanders, whether that’s on the active roster, practice squad, or just during camp. Young is coming off of a torn ACL that ended his season last year, and Sweat has dealt with injuries in his career as well.

Panasiuk’s strong season to round out his college career wasn’t quite enough to see him get drafted, but now he has an opportunity to prove himself at the NFL level.