Van Fillinger is an

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

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

for the

Utah Utes The Utah Utes are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Utah, located in Salt Lake City. The athletic department is named after the Ute tribe of Native Americans in the Unite ...

Early life and high school

Fillinger attended

Corner Canyon High School Corner Canyon High School is a public school in Draper, Utah. It is the newest high school in the Canyons School District. Its colors are navy, silver and white, and its mascot is the Chargers. History Corner Canyon High School opened in 2013. ...

Draper, Utah Draper is a city in Salt Lake and Utah counties in the U.S. state of Utah, about south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. As of the 2020 census, the population is 51,017, up from 7,143 in 1990. Draper is part of two metropolitan area ...

. He was rated as a three-star recruit and committed to play

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and ...

. However, Fillinger flipped his commitment to play for the

College career

Fillinger appeared in 19 games in his first two collegiate seasons in 2020 and 2021, recording 45 tackles with ten being for a loss, and five and a half sacks. In 2022, he played in just eight games before suffering a season-ending injury, finishing with 18 tackles with five being for a loss, five sacks, and a forced fumble. In 2023, Fillinger played in 11 games with eight starts for Utah, where he totaled 31 tackles with five being for a loss, three sacks, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. In week 3 of the 2024 season, he notched a sack and blocked a kick in a win over Baylor. Midway through the 2024 season, Fillinger was added to the

Lombardi Award The Rotary Lombardi Award is an award for college football in the United States. Awarded by the Rotary Club of Houston, Texas annually to the college football player "who best embodies the values and spirit of NFL's legendary coach Vince Lombard ...

watchlist.

Professional career

References

External links

Utah Utes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fillinger, Van Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Players of American football from Utah Sportspeople from Draper, Utah American football defensive ends Utah Utes football players