Rodriguez is generating interest this NFL draft cycle from plenty of teams, including the Dallas Cowboys.
Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez attends the school's NFL football pro day, Thursday, March 26, 2025, in Lubbock, Texas.is scrolling through his phone, hoping to find a video deep within the depths of a group chat for his 2025 linebackers.
He knows it’s in there, but it’s proving difficult to locate. It’s because there are so many like it. McGuire said he’ll send videos of turnovers forced to his linebackers daily. He believes the ball is the most important thing, and he wants to remind his linebackers that taking it away should be the priority. Good news: after this past season, he’ll have plenty of new material, thanks to at least one member of last year’s group chat.Expectations were high for his senior season, but he exceeded them with ease. He was a unanimous All-American and the winner of multiple defensive awards, including the Butkus Award,There wasn’t a lot of argument against those decisions for a linebacker who even finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting.and other teams at Thursday’s pro day in Lubbock, reflects that potential. There are multiple reasons for Rodriguez’s rise. Among them is his ability to not only pack a punch, but also to perfect it.Get the latest D-FW sports news, analysis and opinion delivered straight to your inbox. Plus, Kevin Sherrington's A La Carte.“He’s got a knack for it,” McGuire said of Rodriguez, who led the country in forced fumbles last season.It’s been that way since his first practice at Texas Tech. Rodriguez may be a star linebacker now, but heThere, he practiced in non-contact jerseys. At Texas Tech, when he arrived as a walk-on linebacker, it was a much different story. Recently, McGuire heard Rodriguez tell other Texas Tech linebackers he hurt so bad after his first few practices that he wasn’t sure if he had a future at linebacker. He wasn’t sure if it was for him. “In the early days of just being in a position change, I was severely underdeveloped,” Rodriguez said. “My shoulders and my arms and my neck and my hands. It just takes a while to callous that.”So Rodriguez went to work callousing his body. He would often do two workouts a day. He was intentional about getting better.When it comes to forcing fumbles, he’s the same way. Rodriguez forced seven of them this past season for the Red Raiders. He improved every year in that department, forcing a combined six through his first three seasons at Texas Tech. McGuire smiled as he said the offense at Texas Tech hated going against Rodriguez because of how often he successfully punched at the ball and forced fumbles. “You have to do it every play,” Rodriguez said about forcing fumbles. “I always say the hard part is getting to the football; the reward for getting to the football is taking a chance at taking it away. That’s kind of how you should play the game of football. I don’t think you should ever be on your heels as a defensive player, but you should be attacking the ball every chance you get.”Therein lies the beauty of Rodriguez’s forced fumble propensity. There’s a time and place for trying to force fumbles. McGuire said Rodriguez knows the difference. “He understands that if he’s the first guy in, he’s probably not going to take a shot at the football,” McGuire said. “If it’s in a crowd, he knows that he’s got teammates around him and so he can really take a legit shot at it. Sometimes you poke at it and you see guys kind of going through the motions. He’s not, and he knows exactly . He’s got great timing.” And a great sense for the moment, too. The Senior Bowl was a huge stage for Rodriguez. He had dazzled this past season, but many wondered how he would do in Mobile, Ala., against some of the best prospects in the draft. Rodriguez answered that one small stretch of plays where he forced two fumbles and had an interception.Texas Tech’s Jacob Rodriguez had an all-time performance for a LB on Day 2 of the Senior Bowl. Not only did he show off his peanut punch with a forced fumble, but he also had an INT to end the day and was the best LB in coverage in one-on-onesSince then, Rodriguez has seen plenty of interest from NFL teams. He had too many meetings at the Senior Bowl and NFL scouting combine to name. The same went for Zoom interviews with teams. Thursday’s pro day showed evidence of that interest, as well. He talked with multiple teams. He had a lengthy on-field conversation with Carolina Panthers general manager Dan Morgan. After he finished his news conference with the media, he ran into the large contingent of Cowboys representatives, who were about to hop on a jet and head back to Frisco to welcome players with 30 visits.and Mitch LaPoint, the director of college scouting, all warmly greeted Rodriguez before they went on their way. Rodriguez and some teammates, including defensive tackle Lee Hunter and edge rusher Romello Height, had dinner with Schottenheimer and the Cowboys the night before. “Five-year-old, 10-year-old me would be really happy, really proud. I was happy to be there,” Rodriguez said of having dinner with the Cowboys. “I loved it, loved all the conversations and looking forward to more.”You can tell it’s all still a little bit surreal for Rodriguez. He alluded to that perspective at the NFL combine. He did again on Thursday when he was asked what it would be like to play for the Cowboys.“The NFL is so competitive and so hard to play in, if you can get in anywhere, you join a fraternity that not many get to join.” It’s not an accident that he’s about to, however. It’s within his grasp, just as the football often was last year.NFL draft hopeful EJ Smith, son of Emmitt Smith, says he has workout set up with CowboysAfter viral pro day, could this UTSA kicker replicate Brandon Aubrey’s journey to the NFL?Joseph covers the Dallas Cowboys for The Dallas Morning News. After graduating from the University of Oregon in 2016, Joseph interned at The News before working for The Ames Tribune and KOIN-TV in Portland. He returned to The News in Nov. 2018 and spent five years here before he left to cover the Cowboys for Lone Star Live and DLLS Sports.
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