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INTRO: Last week I profiled Miami edge rusher Akheem Mesidor, who is one of my draft crushes for the Bucs this year. This week it’s my favorite Bucs draft crush, Texas Tech inside linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, who met formally with the Bucs at the NFL Scouting Combine. Nobody takes the ball away like Rodriguez does, and he could be the perfect replacement for Lavonte David at linebacker for Tampa Bay.

Don’t believe me? Ask Panthers Hall of Fame linebacker Luke Kuechly, who feels the same way. I also take a look at what the Bucs have done along the defensive line and note the draft prospects at defensive tackle that the team has scouted this spring in this week’s SR’s FAB 5. Enjoy!

FAB 1. Jacob Rodriguez No Matter What For The Bucs

In the movie Draft Day, starring Kevin Costner as the fictional Browns general manager Sonny Weaver Jr., Cleveland traded up prior to the draft to get the No. 1 overall pick – presumably for Wisconsin quarterback Bo Callahan, who was billed as a can’t-miss QB prospect. But Weaver elects to draft Ohio State playmaking linebacker Vontae Mack instead – even though he probably could have drafted Mack at No. 7.

In the most famous scene of the movie, Weaver stuns the Browns war room by selecting Mack instead of Callahan and throws a crumpled piece of paper on a desk as he walks out of the room. Cleveland head coach Vince Penn, played by Denis Leary, unravels the paper and it reads “Vontae Mack no matter what,” which is something that Weaver wrote to himself prior to the start of the draft.

After watching all the first-round draft prospects that are projected to be on the clock when the Bucs pick at No. 15, I’ve arrived at a conclusion about Texas Tech’s award-winning All-American inside linebacker Jacob Rodriguez.

“Jacob Rodriguez no matter what.”

Texas Tech Ilb Jacob Rodriguez Bucs

Texas Tech ILB Jacob Rodriguez – Photo by IMAGN Images – Michael C. Johnson

He’s the guy Tampa Bay needs to target. Maybe not necessarily at No. 15, but he’s the best player for the Bucs in this draft.

In a perfect world Bucs general manager Jason Licht would move down a few spots in the first round and select Miami edge rusher Akheem Mesidor, who had 35.5 sacks and 52.5 tackles for loss in college, and acquire an extra Day 3 pick in doing so. Then Licht packages Tampa Bay’s second-round pick at No. 46 overall and the extra Day 2 selection to move back up and acquire Rodriguez, whom The Athletic’s Dane Brugler has as the second-best inside linebacker prospect behind Ohio State’s Sonny Styles.

In my eyes, that’s about as close to a dream draft as possible for the Bucs this year. Todd Bowles would get an NFL-ready, 6-foot-3, 259-pound sack artist in Mesidor and a play-making ballhawk linebacker in Rodriguez.

The winner of the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, the Butkus Award, the Lombardi Award, the Chuck Bednarik Award and the Big XII Defensive Player of the year recorded 316 tackles and 25 tackles for loss at Texas Tech to go along with an astounding 13 forced fumbles, including seven in 2025, 12 pass breakups, six interceptions, six sacks and five fumble recoveries – two of which were returned for touchdowns.

Rodriguez has moved up draft boards into the second round after an outstanding week of Senior Bowl practices where he absolutely dominated each session.

Texas Tech Ilb Jacob Rodriguez Bucs

Texas Tech ILB Jacob Rodriguez – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Nathan Giese

“I love football and I’m here for a reason,” Rodriguez said in Mobile, Ala. back in January. “They can watch the tape and see how I play football and know that that’s a physical brand and it’s one that wants to take the ball away.

“The one thing I want to work on is coming out here and playing against bigger bodied O-linemen. I think they’re really good in the NFL. They’re big, they’re strong, they’re good with their feet and hands. So it’s just good work – just prepping for that and being in the right spot and having my body and my leverage where it needs to be.”

The Bucs look for those I Am That Man traits in players – accountability, competitive, confident, passionate and resilient – and Rodriguez has them in spades.

“I love football, so where else would I be other than playing football in January?” Rodriguez said at the Senior Bowl. “So when I got the invite I was super excited. A lot of people said I wouldn’t have to play [in the Senior Bowl] with the season that I had, but I love football, so why not play one more game? So, that’s the reason why I’m here – I get the chance to put the pads on again and this will be the last time I get to wear the double Ts on my helmet. That means a lot to me.”

Rodriguez is Brugler’s No. 40 overall prospect, just ahead of Georgia linebacker CJ Allen at No. 46 and Cincinnati linebacker Jake Golday at No. 48. Wrote Brugler in his Rodriguez scouting report for “The Beast:” Two-time team captain; described as “humble” and “leader of men” by coaching staff (NFL scout: “He’s all about business on the field. … Checks every box as a worker and isn’t shy getting vocal to rally the troops.”)

“It was great playing with JRod, a great leader,” Texas Tech defensive tackle Lee Hunter said when I asked him about Rodriguez at the Senior Bowl. “He loves the game. Jacob actually got me watching more film the whole last season. Kudos to Jacob, one of the better persons I’ve met, and he loves the great game of football.”

Texas Tech Ilb Jacob Rodriguez Bucs

Texas Tech ILB Jacob Rodriguez – Photo by IMAGN Images – Nathan Giese

Pitt linebacker Kyle Louis, who is also on the Bucs’ radar, played on the same Senior Bowl squad as Rodriguez, and came away impressed lining up and practicing with him in Mobile.

“Seeing him up close he’s legit,” Louis said. “He loves football.”

“That’s how you play football,” Rodriguez said. “I think you’ve got to come out here and play excited. You have to play motivated. You have to have a reason why you play. You can’t just come out here and go through the motions. So, you’ve got to come out here and you’ve got to bring the juice every single day.”

Rodriguez is a football junkie, and has an incredibly high football I.Q. thanks in part to his quarterback background. He was recruited to Virginia to play quarterback, and played some Wildcat QB and tight end before making the switch to linebacker and then transferred to Texas Tech after his redshirt freshman season.

I think Rodriguez goes higher than No. 40, especially after watching Alabama linebacker Jihaad Campbell go to Philadelphia at No. 31 last year and UCLA linebacker Carson Schwesinger get drafted by Cleveland at No. 33 atop the second round. Rodriguez is in their class athletically, he has better instincts, and his production simply dwarfs what those two did in college.

Texas Tech Ilb Jacob Rodriguez Bucs

Texas Tech ILB Jacob Rodriguez – Photo by IMAGN Images – Kevin Jairaj

Aside from the ridiculous amount of takeaways Rodriguez had in his four seasons at Texas Tech, perhaps his best attribute was his consistency.

During his junior season in 2024, Rodriguez posted 127 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss and was involved in six takeaways (one interception, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries). As a senior, Rodriguez recorded 128 tackles, 11 tackles for loss and helped produce 13 takeaways (four interceptions, seven forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries).

“You are going to get the most consistent player out here,” Rodriguez told me at the Senior Bowl. “I think I come to work every day with a powerful routine that only builds throughout the season, so I play my best football as the season goes along because I trust my process and I trust my routine. I prepare the right way, and I do things the right way. So I’m very confident about going in and creating good relationships with the people around me.”

FAB. 2 Jacob Rodriguez Can Be The Next Lavonte David

Derrick Brooks became a first ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer in 2014, just two years after the Bucs had selected a similar playmaking linebacker in Lavonte David in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft. What got Brooks into the Hall of Fame, and what will aid David’s cause as he makes his push towards Canton, Ohio in a few years isn’t the obscene amount of tackles both stud linebackers produced.

David, who retired this offseason after 14 years in red and pewter, tied Brooks’ franchise career tackle total with 1,714 tackles. But that’s what linebackers are supposed to do – make tackles.

Tackles alone don’t get linebackers into the Hall of Fame. It’s the splash plays – the momentum-changing interception, or the game-clinching forced fumble and fumble recovery.

Brooks totaled 25 interceptions during the regular season, including six pick-sixes, plus another one that sealed the Bucs’ Super Bowl XXXVII win, in addition to forcing 25 fumbles and recovering four, including one for a touchdown, in his 14 years in Tampa Bay.

Bucs Ilb Lavonte David

Bucs ILB Lavonte David – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Nathan Ray Seebeck

David was even more productive when it came to takeaways for the Bucs, notching 14 career interceptions, including a pair of pick-sixes, in addition to forcing a franchise-record 33 fumbles and recovering 21 fumbles during the regular season.

It was the knack for creating game-changing takeaways that made David special and put him in a class with Brooks as one of the best defensive players in Tampa Bay history.

So, if I’m Jason Licht and Todd Bowles, and I just lost David to retirement, I’m on the quest to find the next David. And he’s actually in the 2026 NFL Draft.

Of course I’m talking about Texas Tech’s Jacob Rodriguez, who recorded 13 forced fumbles, six interceptions, five fumble recoveries, including two for touchdowns in his All-American Red Raiders career.

At Florida State, Brooks totaled five interceptions, four forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. Numbers that made him a first-team All-American as a junior and senior.

David wasn’t the playmaker in college that he became in Tampa Bay, and recorded a modest three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and two interceptions at Nebraska.

“I think my strength is the ability to take the football away,” Rodriguez told me at the Senior Bowl. “That’s something that I’ve been working on and it’s something that has paid off on the field. The biggest change of a game is winning the turnover battle. You have the best chance of winning the game, so that’s something I prioritized at Tech.

“You have to have a knack for it, but it comes with practice. I can’t just do what I do without practicing it. You’ve always got to be thinking about it and dreaming about it, sleeping it and eating it – all of it. You just have to do everything you can to want to take the football away and then go out there at practice, whether you are punching the ball or ripping the ball out, or trying to see a quarterback’s vision and try to take the ball away that way in the air.”

Texas Tech Ilb Jacob Rodriguez Bucs

Texas Tech ILB Jacob Rodriguez – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Nirmalendu Majumdar

I got to witness Rodriguez record two forced fumbles in person at my alma mater, as Texas Tech beat my Kansas State Wildcats, 43-20, on November 1 in Manhattan, Kan. K-State head coach Chris Klieman had warned his team all week about Rodriguez’s ability to punch the ball out like NFL cornerback Charles “Peanut” Tillman routinely did, perfecting the “Peanut Punch.”

And yet Rodriguez still forced two key fumbles against K-State’s best weapons – wide receiver Jayce Brown and tight end Garrett Oakley.

“I think there has to be a purpose to take the ball away,” Rodriguez said at the NFL Scouting Combine. “Everything you do should be wanting to take the ball. You shouldn’t want to be on your heels as a defense. You should be attacking and try to take that ball away.

“I actually got to meet Charles Tilman this past week where I was training. And so, it was a really, it was a huge blessing to get to meet him and hear some of his knowledge that he wanted to extend to me.”

Tillman forced a ridiculous 44 fumbles in his 14-year NFL career – mostly with Chicago. He even led the league with 10 forced fumbles in his Pro Bowl season in 2012.

“Shit, it was awesome, you know, to get to meet him and everything,” Rodriguez said of meeting Tillman. “We’d watch it, you know, every day of every week, you know, we watch somebody take the ball away. We watch a lot of clips of him and everything that he did to change the game for us. I was just trying to do the best I could to help my team win.”

Former Bears Cb Charles Tillman Bucs

Former Bears CB Charles Tillman – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Dennis Bierzbicki

Rodriguez’s mindset is as rare as his knack for creating takeaways. He is actively looking to take the ball away on every play, knowing full well that winning the turnover margin is often the key to victory in football games.

Rodriguez has already perfected the art of creating the takeaway and he’s entering the league doing it better than either Brooks or David did in college. If I’m Licht or Bowles I’m doing whatever it takes to come away with a versatile, ballhawking linebacker like Rodriguez in this year’s draft.

“He’s a good football player,” Bowles said of Rodriguez at the NFL Annual Meeting. “We’ve watched him. He’s a good football player.”

I asked Bowles what he looks for as the top trait when it comes to scouting linebackers.

“The trait you look for the most is probably instinctiveness,” Bowles said. “You look for instincts, and how they read and how the scrape, and how they go. I think there’s a bunch of those [linebackers] in this draft.”

The Athletic’s Dane Brugler had this to say about the Red Raiders team captain.

“Rodriguez has a very average size profile, but his athletic versatility has made him a more instinctive linebacker and helps him play decisively. He should immediately compete for a starting role in the NFL.”

“I think I could play any position that they need me to play,” Rodriguez said at the NFL Scouting Combine. “I can play and Sam out in space. I can play the Mike. I can be the green dot guy and I can play the Will. I think I could play any position that they bring up to me and I think I’m very much capable of doing anything.

“I think I proved that I can be consistent. I can come in and get the team set and get guys in position to make plays, and then take the ball away.”

Nobody did it better in college than Jacob Rodriguez.

FAB 3. Would The Panthers Take Jacob Rodriguez At No. 19?

Even though Panthers head coach Dave Canales has turned the play-calling duties over to offensive coordinator Brad Idzik and wants to see more weapons on offense for quarterback Bryce Young, Carolina’s general manager is Dan Morgan.

As in former Panthers linebacker Dan Morgan.

And it’s Morgan who does the drafting in Carolina.

Morgan has given Canales a pair of first-round wide receivers in Xavier Legette and Tetairoa McMillan over the last two years – with McMillan, last year’s NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, certainly being the better player. But Carolina has not shied away from drafting defensive players on Day 2, selecting Kentucky linebacker Trevin Wallace in the third round in 2024 and defensive ends Nic Scourton and Princely Umanmielen in the second and third rounds last year.

This offseason, Morgan signed Pro Bowl middle linebacker Devin Lloyd to a three-year, $45 million contract as well as defensive end Jaelan Phillips to a massive, four-year, $120 million deal. But Morgan may not be done upgrading the Panthers defense.

Could Carolina draft Texas Tech’s stud linebacker Jacob Rodriguez in the first round with the 19th overall pick? Well, one of Morgan’s pro scouts in the Panthers organization, Hall of Famer and former Carolina linebacker Luke Kuechly, loves Rodriguez.

Texas Tech Ilb Jacob Rodriguez Bucs

Texas Tech ILB Jacob Rodriguez – Photo by IMAGN Images – Nathan Giese

“My favorite guy is Jacob Rodriguez, the kid from Tech,” Kuechly said on the Panthers’ JJ & Luke podcast. “I like him. I think you look at guys like him and the one thing I think is most important for ‘backers is how quickly can you process? How quickly can you be lined up, you see something happen, and know exactly where you’re going to go? I think he’s really good at that, and I think he’s a really good tackler.

“And his ball production has been phenomenal. I think four picks last year and seven forced fumbles. He was behind the line of scrimmage TFL-wise 11 times, which in college football is a big number. And he’s an attacker. Like he goes and gets it. He doesn’t wait.”

Kuechly certainly knows the linebacker position, as he was a first-round draft pick in an insane draft class of linebackers in 2012 that also included Bobby Wagner, Dont’a Hightower, Demario Davis and Tampa Bay’s Lavonte David.

“There are a lot of guys that are big and can run that make tackles down the field, and you need guys to do that,” Kuechly continued. “But it’s fun when you watch guys play ‘backer … and they go forward, and they attack on angles. You watch guys play and it’s very easy to see with certain guys how much fun they have playing football, and he’s one of those guys.”

One of the knocks on Kuechly coming out of Boston College was that the 6-foot-3, 238-pound linebacker had shorter than ideal arms at 31 inches. That’s been a bit of knock on Rodriguez, who did miss 20 tackles last year – yet also made 128 stops.

“People have knocked him for having short arms,” Kuechly said. “If you watch tape and you said he had 34-inch arms, which is unbelievable, you would say, ‘Yeah that makes sense’ [given his tackle totals]. Or if you watched him and you said, ‘He had I think like 31 inches.’ You’d be like, ‘That makes sense.’

“When you look at all that stuff, it only comes around when the Combine happens, and they measure guys. I’m short [in arm length] – I’m like 31 [inches]. Size-wise guy he’s very similar to a guy that no longer plays for in the NFC South – Lavonte David, who I think is a Hall of Fame guy. Phenomenal stud, great dude. Played there [in Tampa Bay] won a Super Bowl, team captain, checked every box.”

Rodriguez measured 6-foot-1, 231 pounds at the NFL Scouting Combine, and ran a 4.57 and turned in the best times in most agility drills.

Texas Tech Ilb Jacob Rodriguez Bucs

Texas Tech ILB Jacob Rodriguez – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Kirby Lee

“Height, weight, speed – Rodriguez is actually a little bit faster [than David],” Kuechly said. “Lavonte’s arms are 7/8 of an inch longer. You know many times they said Lavonte David’s arms are short in the [14] years? The day after the draft it doesn’t matter anymore.

“All Lavonte David did was have a Hall of Fame career. He had 1700 tackles. Like the arm thing is important, but it’s been proven time and time again. Lavonte is a great example of like, the football player plays the game. And I think Jacob Rodriguez is one of those guys – he just makes plays on the ball.”

David was a second-round pick back in 2012, as was Wagner, another future Hall of Fame linebacker. If you could redraft the 2012 draft, Kuechly, David and Wagner would all be top 5 picks. I have a feeling that we’ll be saying the same thing about Rodriguez at the end of his NFL career.

So don’t take my word for it that Jacob Rodriguez could be another Lavonte David. Take Luke Kuechly’s.

And the Bucs better not hope that Morgan, Kuechly and the Panthers make a bold move and take Rodriguez at No. 19 – sooner than most NFL Draft pundits expect.

FAB 4. Todd Bowles Wants A Stouter Defensive Line In 2026

Sometimes stats can be deceiving. Even though Tampa Bay ranked fifth last year against the run, holding opponents to just 99.1 yards per game, the Bucs defense underwhelmed as a unit.

Todd Bowles’ unit finished 20th in total defense, allowing an average of 337.2 yards per game, and ranked 27th against the pass, surrendering 238.2 yards per game. The weak play of the defensive line, including its edge rushers, played a role in that, as the Bucs recorded just 37 sacks last year, by far the lowest total of any Bowles defense in Tampa Bay since he arrived in 2019 as the defensive coordinator.

Tampa Bay’s defense ranked 20th in scoring defense, allowing 24.2 points per game. That mark, coupled with the fact that the offense averaged just 22.4 points per game was a big reason why the Bucs finished 8-9.

When your opponent is outscoring 24-22 on average … that’s not good.

Bowles and general manager Jason Licht had to address the defense in free agency, especially the front seven. The Bucs let outside linebacker Haason Reddick, a free agent bust who managed just 2.5 sacks for $14 million, and defensive tackle Logan Hall, the team’s top pick in 2022, leave in free agency. Tampa Bay also didn’t re-signed undersized reserve defensive tackles Greg Gaines and C.J. Brewer and undersized outside linebacker Markees Watts.

Bowles said he wanted to get bigger this offseason and that’s exactly what’s happened along the defensive line. Carolina’s A’Shawn Robinson, a 6-foot-3, 320-pound defensive tackle replaces the 6-foot-6, 290-pound Hall. Detroit’s Al-Quadin Muhammad is 6-foot-3, 250 pounds and replaces the 6-foot-1, 240-pound Reddick. Tampa Bay re-signed Rakeem Nunez-Roches, a 6-foot-3, 310-pounder to replace Gaines, who is 6-foot-1, 300-pound reserve.

Bucs Dt Rakeem Nunez-Roches

Bucs DT Rakeem Nunez-Roches – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Robinson and Muhammad bring a nasty edge to the Bucs defense, which is truly something that has been missing since Ndamukong Suh and Jason Pierre-Paul departed after the 2021 season.

“They had edge, but I don’t know if we were sturdy enough up front defensively from a size standpoint,” Bowles said of his defense last year. “We’ve had [Will] Gholston and we’ve had Nacho (Rakeem Nunez-Roches) and we’ve had Suh and we’ve got ‘big guy’ [Robinson] coming in here as well. We haven’t had sturdiness so to speak, and with A’Shawn coming in I think he brings some of that and Al [Quadin Mohammad] brings that kind of attitude, too. We’re trying to get back to having a stouter defensive front that can help everybody else.

“We’re still building,” Bowles said. “We still have to build some chemistry. We feel like we got some good players, but we have to gel them in and they’ve got to fit in with everybody else. We feel like we can be better, but that’s still just a process right now. The process won’t be complete until pretty much the end of summer, as far as us building and making sure we’ve got all the pieces to do exactly what we want to do.”

It will be interesting to see if the Bucs continue to prioritize size at defensive tackle and outside linebacker. Tampa Bay has interviewed and scouted some bigger defensive tackles like Texas Tech’s Lee Hunter and Florida State’s Darrell Jackson Jr. – both of whom are over 315 pounds – as well as some really undersized, quick defensive tackles like Oklahoma’s Gracen Halton and Southeastern Louisiana’s Kaleb Proctor – both of whom weigh 290 pounds or less.

Texas Tech Dt Lee Hunter Bucs

Texas Tech DT Lee Hunter – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Michael C. Johnson

It’s the same thing at outside linebacker where the team has bigger edge rushers like Miami’s 6-foot-3, 259-pound Akheem Mesidor, Missouri’s 6-foot-5, 262-pound Zion Young and Illinois’ 6-foot-3, 270-pound Gabe Jacas on their radar. Yet the Bucs have also investigated some undersized outside linebacker candidates like Texas A&M’s 6-foot-2, 253-pound Cashius Howell, Oklahoma’s 6-foot-2, 242-pound R Mason Thomas, Texas Tech’s 6-foot-3, 238-pound Romello Height and Western Michigan’s 6-foot-2, 247-pound Nadame Tucker.

“We’re just looking for a good football player,” said Bowles, who was non-committal about the type of edge rusher he’s looking for. “That’s a position we can have a good football player at, and there are other positions that we like those good football players at as well. We still finished top 5 versus the run, but we need  better pass rush. We understand that. And we need to shore up certain areas on our team, whether it’s from a starting standpoint or a depth standpoint.

“Like I said, the process is still going. It doesn’t end with free agency. It doesn’t end with the draft. There’s free agency after the draft as well. Me and Jason talk about it all the time. We’re constantly looking for ways to get better and that position would probably be one of them.”

FAB 5. SR’s Buc Shots

• One of the things that stands out about Texas Tech inside linebacker Jacob Rodriguez is just how grounded he is and supremely focused on the game of football. Part of the reason for that focus is his wife, Emma, who was his high school sweetheart. Emma Rodriguez is just as much of a bad ass as her husband, as she is an Army Black Hawk helicopter pilot stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas, home of the Big Red 1 infantry unit and less than half an hour away from Kansas State University.

Emma Rodriguez made it to a few Red Raiders games this season to watch her All-American husband, including Texas Tech’s 43-20 win over K-State in Manhattan on Nov. 1.

Texas Tech Ilb Jacob Rodriguez And Wife Emma

Texas Tech ILB Jacob Rodriguez and wife Emma – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Nathan Giese

“The way that she prepares in her professional life, and then everything that she does for me, you know our relationship is rock solid,” Rodriguez said of his long distance relationship. “So I really appreciate her and she motivates me so much with everything that she does and everything that she means to me. I wouldn’t be here without her. She understands how much work you have to do something at a high level.”

If the Bucs draft Jacob Rodriguez, perhaps Emma can transfer to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, which is less than half an hour away from Raymond James Stadium.

• The Bucs had several defensive tackles at the team facility on official 30 visits, including Georgia Tech’s athletic Jordan van den Berg and Texas Tech’s Lee Hunter, whom the team also met formally with at the NFL Scouting Combine. Hunter is viewed as a second-round pick, while van den Berg is regarded as a Day 3 selection.

“What did he measure at, 6-3, 330?” said Jacob Rodriguez, who played at Texas Tech with Hunter. “The dude is fast as heck for a D-lineman and good with his hands. I don’t know what more you could want from a D-lineman. He can stick his foot in the ground and go run and chase the running back down. He’s the real deal.”

Other defensive tackles that have reportedly met with the Bucs in Tampa on official 30 visits include Oklahoma’s Gracen Halton, Georgia’s Christen Miller and Southeast Louisiana’s Kaleb Proctor. You can check out Pewter Report’s Official 30 Visit Tracker right here.

Tampa Bay also formally met with Hunter, Ohio State’s Kayden McDonald, Florida’s Caleb Banks, Florida State’s Darrell Jackson Jr., Texas A&M’s Tyler Onyedim and Ole Miss’ Zxavien Harris at the NFL Scouting Combine. You can check out Pewter Report’s Bucs 2026 Combine Interview Tracker right here.

• One last note on Texas Tech’s Jacob Rodriguez. He was the only player in college football last year to score a touchdown on offense and defense. Rodriguez recovered a fumble for a touchdown in 2025, and then also lined up as a Wildcat quarterback in two goal line situations and punched it in for two offensive touchdowns – one versus UCF and another at West Virginia.

Texas Tech Ilb Jacob Rodriguez Bucs

Texas Tech ILB Jacob Rodriguez – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Nathan Giese

Rodriguez played quarterback at Virginia during his freshman year and the Texas Tech coaching staff wanted to allow him to make some memories during his senior year with a couple of touchdowns on offense. Rodriguez, player of Mexican heritage, is known for his busy mustache and the Wildcat package he ran a few times last year was aptly called ‘Stache.

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Scott Reynolds is in his 30th year of covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the vice president, publisher and senior Bucs beat writer for PewterReport.com. Author of the popular SR's Fab 5 column on Fridays, Reynolds oversees web development and forges marketing partnerships for PewterReport.com in addition to his editorial duties. A graduate of Kansas State University in 1995, Reynolds spent six years giving back to the community as the defensive coordinator/defensive line coach for his sons' Pop Warner team, the South Pasco Predators. Reynolds can be reached at: [email protected]

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