{"id":708398,"date":"2026-06-01T14:15:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T14:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/708398\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T14:15:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T14:15:09","slug":"dolphins-rookie-linebacker-jacob-rodriguezs-draft-day-profiled-by-nfl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/708398\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolphins rookie linebacker Jacob Rodriguez\u2019s draft day profiled by NFL"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Miami Dolphins<\/a> made Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez the 43rd overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft \u2014 selecting him early on in the second round of the annual selection process. The move pairs him with another Texas Tech alum already on Miami\u2019s roster \u2014 fellow linebacker Jordyn Brooks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Last week, the National Football League released a short video chronicling Rodriguez\u2019s journey through high school football, college and his draft day selection. The clip also discusses the linebacker\u2019s family life \u2014 including his relationships with his older siblings (two older brothers and two older sisters), his parents and his wife (Emma) who he\u2019s been with since high school.<\/p>\n

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Emma Rodriguez flies Black Hawk helicopters as an Aviation Officer in the United States Army. She credits her husband for helping her to become who she is today.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would not be who I am today if I didn\u2019t have Jacob. Having somebody who is that driven in your corner, in my corner is just \u2014 it\u2019s the greatest gift in the entire world.<\/p>\n

Rodriguez\u2019s drive and work ethic paid off when the Dolphins used their second-round pick on the 23-year old. New general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan spoke with the linebacker over the phone on draft day and had this to say to his new defensive weapon.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, man. We\u2019re fired up. I can\u2019t tell you how excited we are to get you here. We\u2019re all about culture, man. And you can help lead it.\u201d<\/p>\n

New head coach Jeff Hafley was the next to speak with Rodriguez, and he shared Sullivan\u2019s excitement regarding Miami\u2019s young linebacker.<\/p>\n

\u201cAh, man. I am so fired up, man. Are you excited? You\u2019re made of the right stuff. I love the way you play and you\u2019ve got great instincts, man. You\u2019re so tough. You fly around. You\u2019re just what we need, man. I cannot wait to coach you. This is going to be awesome.<\/p>\n

For the NFL\u2019s entire clip, watch the video below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Miami Dolphins made Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez the 43rd overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":708399,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,190679,196382,158823,344481,1233,9139,593,122006,85,3370,3375,1225],"class_list":["post-708398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-jacob-rodriguez","tag-jordyn-brooks","tag-linebacker","tag-lubbock","tag-miami-dolphins","tag-national-football-league","tag-nfl","tag-oklahoma-state-cowboys","tag-sports","tag-texas","tag-texas-tech","tag-texas-tech-red-raiders"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=708398"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708398\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/708399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=708398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=708398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=708398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}