Why Jacob Rodriguez – for all the right reasons – will be early-round steal of 2026 NFL Draft

Why Jacob Rodriguez – for all the right reasons – will be early-round steal of 2026 NFL Draft originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez will accomplish the life-long goal of being selected at the 2026 NFL Draft this weekend.

Rodriguez – the most-decorated defensive player in college football last season and a potential first-round sleeper – is making the moment about everyone else. Rodriguez will not make the trip to Pittsburgh. He has other plans.

“I’m going to watch with family,” Rodriguez told The Sporting News. “I think Emma and I will be around my family and it will be fun. This accomplishment for me is great, but it’s more so for me along with my entire family who have pushed me to this moment and my friends have held me accountable and to all the people who have played a part in this process for me. I want them to be celebrated just as much as it is an achievement for myself.”

Rodriguez’s wife Emma – a UH-60 Black Hawk pilot for the United States Army – will also come into focus as part of the draft coverage. Jacob and Emma kept a long-distance relationship through college.

This is part of the mental makeup for Rodriguez, who swept the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Butkus Award, Lombardi Award and Chuck Bednarik Award last season for the Red Raiders. It is yet another reason why NFL teams are getting a valuable pick in either Round 1 or Round 2.

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Jacob and Emma Rodriguez’s long-distance relationship

Rodriguez is partnered with USAA’s “Salute to Service” program ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft. He joined Emma on a helicopter flight simulator – and that was a learning experience for Jacob, who laughed when asked how that transpired.

“It’s very difficult,” Rodriguez said. “Try to fly a helicopter and not know there’s everything you have to look at apart from looking outside the aircraft. You have to use both your feet and both your hands, and just trying to put it all together definitely takes a lot of practice.

“It was very fun and very eye opening to get to see and understand what she goes through on a daily basis,” he said.

Jacob and Emma’s relationship grew stronger throughout his college experience while she stayed in the military. Rodriguez was initially a quarterback at Virginia before switching to linebacker and transferring to Texas Tech. The couple now lives together as Jacob prepares to start his professional career.

“It helps us out a lot that we’re both super busy,” Rodriguez said. “I think long distance can be very difficult, but it can also build a lot of strong habits and you can build a really strong communication foundation.”

Jacob Rodriguez’s NFL Draft profile

Rodriguez – a 6-foot-1, 231-pound linebacker – was a key defensive standout for Texas Tech in 2025. The Red Raiders won the Big 12 championship and made the program’s first College Football Playoff appearance. He had 128 tackles and 11 tackles for loss – production typical of elite linebackers. He also had four interceptions and a FBS-best seven forced fumbles. That is above-board at any level.

Rodriguez was one of the top performers at the Reese’s Senior Bowl and held his own at the NFL Scouting Combine with a talented group of linebackers that includes Ohio State’s Sonny Styles, Texas’ Anthony Hill Jr. and Georgia’s CJ Allen. Again, Rodriguez made that experience more about the players surrounding him.

“It was nice to be there with the best of them and show everybody that I can compete and be a part of that conversation,” Rodriguez said. “I think more importantly it was cool to meet the people, and it was cool to get to know their personalities and who they are.”

Rodriguez also was in full support of his Texas Tech teammates – which includes projected first-round edge rusher David Bailey, defensive tackle Lee Hunter and edge rusher Romello Height. The Red Raiders allowed 11.8 points per game in 2026 – which ranked third in the FBS.

“I would argue the best locker room in the country and we really cared about each other off the field,” Rodriguez said. “I will be so happy getting to see those guys getting everything they ever dreamed of getting. I’m excited to see Texas Tech in the future and everything that Coach (Joey) McGuire is still doing at Lubbock.”

Rodriguez could become just the second Texas Tech linebacker to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. The Seattle Seahawks took Jordyn Brooks with the No. 27 pick in 2020. Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Zach Thomas was a fifth-round pick in 1996.

Brooks and Thomas were known for their strong tackling skills, and that’s what Rodriguez hopes the NFL scouts see in his evaluation.

“I’d love for that to pop off the tape,” Rodriguez said. “The biggest thing for me and why I play football is I want people to see someone who plays extremely hard — and he plays one way all the time. There is never a play where he takes off and he’s always going and wants to be the guy who his teammates look up to and see who is working extremely hard.”

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Where will Jacob Rodriguez get drafted?

Daniel Jeremiah – a NFL.com draft analyst – knew Rodriguez’s backstory before watching the film.

“You learn about the person, and you learn about the production, and a lot of times you’re almost nervous to watch the tape because you’re like, ‘I just don’t know if that’s good enough,'” Jeremiah said. “Is the athleticism going to be there to match what you see? Because you already love the kid, and then you love the production.

“Then when you watch the tape, you’re like, ‘Oh, no. He passes the threshold,'” Jeremiah said. “He can run. He’s got the ability to cover. He’s a firm tackler. Obviously, the forced fumbles are outrageous, and that showed up at the Senior Bowl as well.”

Jeremiah ranked Rodriguez at No. 42 on his top 150 prospects ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft. Rodriguez is a second-round pick in Sporting News’ latest mock draft.

Could that push that into the first round? Rodriguez impressed at the college level and through the NFL Draft process. That production – and the person – should be successful at the next level.

“He’s not getting out of the second round,” Jeremiah said. “There’s no chance he gets out of the second round. If you’re looking for, ‘Who are these surprise first rounders that kind of come out of left field?’ I wouldn’t rule him out there either. I just think someone is going to fall in love with him.”

Rodriguez is partnered with USAA ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft, and his story with Emma was profiled on Instagram. “It means a lot to Emma and I to be able to show appreciation for military families and spouses. People in that area of work — they do a lot. They volunteer their time and their service to support the great country that we’re in.”

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