45 Days Until Kansas Football: Video Game All-Stars - Joe Dineen
In this story:
The return of the NCAA Football video game is scheduled for next summer, and that gives us the perfect opportunity to highlight some players that didn't get an opportunity to appear in the series during it's hiatus.
Thanks to a rating system that includes individualized ratings of college players that we discussed on the Rock Chalk Podcast, we are able to take correct that oversight. This rating combines their base talent level with their actual college production to come up with an overall look at their performance.
A reminder that our Video Game All-Stars series will look at recent Kansas players who played well at Kansas but never got an opportunity to be captured with a virtual version of themselves. We will look back at their careers, and include a projection of what their overall rating would have been had the games been around.
Up today is Linebacker Joe Dineen.
Other Player Spotlights in this series:
Recruiting Bio
A 6'2", 230-lb linebacker out of Lawrence Free State High School in Lawrence, KS, Dineen was recruited to Kansas as part of the 2014 class by linebacker coach Clint Bowen. He was a 3-star prospect who was not highly recruited, with only another offer from Rice. However, that lack of interest from other schools was at least in part due to the pull of the hometown Jayhawks.
Production at Kansas
| Season | Total Tackles | Solo Tackles | Sacks | Passes Defended | Interceptions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2015 | 86 | 66 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
2016 | 16 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2017 | 133 | 89 | 2.5 | 2 | 0 |
2018 | 142 | 109 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Dineen redshirted in his first season on campus in 2014, the same season where Charlie Weis was fired 4 games into the season. Dineen played the next four seasons under head coach David Beaty, although his 2016 season was cut short by a hamstring injury.
His best season came in 2018, which he entered with Preseason First Team All-Big 12 Honors. He was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week twice, and ended the season with Second Team All-American and First Team All-Big 12 honors. He led the Big 12 and was fourth in all of FBS for total tackles, and led all of FBS in solo tackles.
Best Game
Dineen was so consistent in his final two seasons that it is difficult to pick out the best games for him. However, there are two that I remember watching as a Kansas fan living on the east coast at the time.
September 8, 2018: 31-7 Win over Central Michigan
Stat line: 14 total tackles, 8 solo, 1 QB hurry, 0.5 tackles for loss, 1 interception
Dineen was the standout player on the defensive end, leading the team in tackles and pulling in one of 4 interceptions of Chippewa quarterback Tony Poljan. The Jayhawks snapped a 46-game road losing streak with this victory.
November 23, 2018: 24-17 Loss to Texas
Stat line: 14 total tackles, 11 solo, 1 tackle for loss, 1 pass defended
Dineen was all over the field in the first half, and the Longhorns entered halftime with only a single touchdown. Unfortunately, Texas broke through in the third quarter, and the Jayhawks went on to lose. It was a masterful performance for Dineen in his final game on Senior Night, as he nearly tripled the number of tackles of the next closest player.
After Kansas
Dineen was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Denver Broncos after the 2019 NFL Draft, but a hand injury at the end of the preseason led to him being released a few weeks into the season with an injury settlement. He signed onto the practice squad with the Jacksonville Jaguars for the final two weeks of that season.
He spent the 2020 season as a graduate assistant on the SMU coaching staff.
Video Game Rating
Base Rating: 76
Production Bonus: 19
Total Rating: 95
Joe Dineen rates very high in the video game ratings, and his high level of production is the big reason why. His recruiting rankings were nothing special, but provided enough of a baseline to give him an opportunity to earn his way to a high rating. And the consistent production allowed him to add production points quickly. While these ratings aren't broken down to the various attributes you would find in Madden, given his strengths on the field, I would imagine that his awareness and acceleration ratings would have to be his top attributes.
A reminder that our video game ratings are provided by CFB Winning Edge, which is an independent outlet focused on college football analytics that has developed team, player and coach ratings based on a wide range of current and historical data.
Patreon supporters have access to their FBS Team Profiles, which includes ratings for over 11,000 individual players across all 131 FBS teams, as well as ratings for every head coach, offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator, and strength of schedule metrics. In addition to stats, recruiting data, injury reports, and player movement information, they also offer three sets of projected point spreads for every FBS game based on separate projection models, as well as projected win totals.
You can find more information about what they offer by going to their Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/CFBWinningEdge
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