When it comes to draft stock flactuation, there may not be a better example of it than Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez.
Acolades:
- 2025 Butkus Award
- 2025 Chuck Bednarik Award
- 2025 Unanimous All-American
- 2025 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year
- First-team All-Big 12 (2024,2025)
- A lot of other awards
NFL Comp: Blake Martinez
Pros:
- Textbook tackler, rarely lets someone go ones he gets his hands on them
- NFL level play recognition
- Fluid athelte, moves well
- Able to hold his own in coverage
- Born leader
- Wife is a pilot of a Black Hawk helicopter
- Uses smaller frame to avoid blocks from bigger linemen
Cons:
- Will turn 24 at the start of the season
- Subpar pass rusher
- While play recognition is great, can overcommit at times which leads to bigger plays
- Once grabbed, struggles to really get off blocks
- While his lack of atheltism was extremly overblown, he’ll never be a high end athlete
His fit with the Bills:
Rodriguez has become an interesting prospect during this ongoing draft process, and that trend seems to be ongoing. Despite his tremendous season at Texas Tech, he was getting mid-late round buzz, which surprised me. Since the season has ended, he has shot up draft boards, but he still doesn’t have a firm area in the draft where he’s projected to fall. In the case of the Bills, they only have two picks in the top 100, where I project Rodriguez to go. At 26, I don’t think it’d be unreasonable to select Rodriguez. As I spoke about in his pros, his athleticism is more than enough to be a three-down linebacker at the next level. The narrative of him being a slow, two-down backer is lazy. This can be proven by watching a few of him games, as well as look at his combine performance.
When it comes to him fitting on the Bills, things get extremely interesting. Moving from a nickel base defense to a 3-4 base, things change, but you still need two primary off-ball linebackers, which Rodriguez is. By taking Rodriguez, you’re adding him to a room with Terrel Bernard, Dorian Williams and Joe Andreessen. Andreessen will likely stay at backup, which would leave three players for two spots. I am extremely high on Williams, esspecially in this style of defense and would love to see him become a full time starter. This creates a battle between Bernard and Rodriguez. Even if Rodriguez wins the battle, Bernard’s contract makes things difficult. He starts a four-year ccontract this season, which the team is unable to get out of until the 2028 season at the earliest. He’s also been a team captain for the past two seasons. With that being said, he was not great this year, and has missed nine games in the past two seasons. It won’t be easy to bench Bernard, but having three linebackers on your roster capable of being a plus starter isn’t the worst thing.
