A small-college special-teamer turned edge rusher who reinvented himself in Jacksonville after years in Arizona.
Dennis Gardeck went undrafted out of Sioux Falls and earned his NFL keep on special teams with the Arizona Cardinals before flashing as a pass rusher. He signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars in June 2025 and stepped into a starting outside linebacker role. The Jaguars re-signed him ahead of the 2026 league year.
Path to the league
Gardeck played college football at West Virginia State before transferring to Sioux Falls, where he recorded 75 tackles and 14 sacks in his lone season and drew Harlon Hill Trophy and Cliff Harris Award recognition. He entered the NFL undrafted and made his name on Arizona's special teams. He gradually earned a larger defensive role as a situational rusher.
Career highlights
Gardeck built a reputation in Arizona as a high-energy edge presence and special-teams contributor. A torn ACL in Week 7 of his final Cardinals season interrupted his momentum. He signed with Jacksonville on June 4, 2025, to continue his career.
2025 season
Gardeck played in every game of Jacksonville's 2025 campaign as a starting outside linebacker, logging 28 tackles, one pass defensed and one forced fumble across roughly 200 defensive snaps. He worked his way back to near full health after the prior ACL injury. He re-signed with the Jaguars two days before the start of the 2026 league year.
Sources
- Sports Illustrated: 3 Instant Observations on Jaguars Re-Signing Dennis Gardeck
- ESPN: Dennis Gardeck player page
Statistics
2025 season and career2025 Season · Defense
17 games played▶Defense · career
| Year | Team | GP | TOT | SOLO | SACK | INT | FF | FR | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | jaguars | 17 | 48 | 28 | 2.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 2024 | cardinals | 7 | 22 | 17 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 2023 | cardinals | 17 | 46 | 36 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 2022 | cardinals | 14 | 31 | 22 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2021 | cardinals | 14 | 23 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2020 | cardinals | 14 | 16 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2019 | cardinals | 14 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2018 | cardinals | 16 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Player Profile
Background
- Position
- Linebacker
- Group
- defense
- College
- Sioux Falls
- Hometown
- Lake In The H, IL, USA
- Age
- 31
- Status
- active
