![\"Zach](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/zach-thomas-miami-dolphins.jpg\")
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(Photo by Megan Briggs\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The Miami Dolphins<\/a> have had their share of talented linebackers, one of them being Zach Thomas. Moreover, the Dolphins legend has a connection to the team\u2019s 2026 second-round pick, Jacob Rodriguez, as both arrived in South Florida from Texas Tech<\/a>.<\/p>\n After the Dolphins made the selection official, Rodriguez spoke with the media in Miami and elaborated on how Thomas has played a role in helping him on this journey, which now takes him to the NFL<\/a> and the former linebacker\u2019s team. <\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s just kind of reminded me of what he went through and this process that he went through and how he had to believe in himself and just kind of hold true to what he\u2019s had and what he\u2019s earned,\u201d Rodriguez told reporters on April 24<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve got to, especially being from West Texas, you work hard every day, and that\u2019s got to be your routine. So just feeding into a lot of the day-to-day stuff and a lot of that we elaborated on.\u201d<\/p>\n Jacob Rodriguez Talks Zach Thomas and Jordyn Brooks<\/p>\n Moreover, Jordyn Brooks, who Rodriguez could play alongside in Miami, also played college football for the Red Raiders<\/a>. As a result, the 23-year-old shared his thoughts on that Dolphins-Texas Tech connection he has with Brooks and Thomas. <\/p>\n \u201cI think Jordyn has given me a lot of words of wisdom as I have gone through my years [at Texas Tech]. I was also able to create a good relationship with Zach Thomas, and he has been a mentor to me. <\/p>\n \u201cHe has let me reach out to him with any questions I have. It has been a really cool experience to be in this position, to have guys who were in your same spot and now are leaning into this experience just like you are right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Dolphins Give Strong Reason for Picking Jacob Rodriguez<\/p>\n Rodriguez put together a dominant 2025 college football season for Texas Tech,\u00a0finishing with a 93.3 overall PFF grade<\/a>\u00a0that ranked first among 809 qualified linebackers. He also led the position in coverage with a 92.7 grade and topped all linebackers in run defense at 95.3.<\/p>\n As a pass rusher, his 62.2 grade ranked 452nd among qualified linebackers, showing that area as his weakest phase.<\/p>\n Moreover, he finished the year with 81 solo tackles, added four total pressures and one sack as a blitzer, and allowed an 82.7 passer rating when targeted in coverage. He was also credited with 17 missed tackles across the season.<\/p>\n After making the pick on April 24,\u00a0Dolphins general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan spoke with the media<\/a>\u00a0and shared what led them to select Rodriguez, noting that they see him leading the defense in the future.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t say enough good things about Jacob and, more importantly, about the people who have been around him during his time at Texas Tech and what they say about him, not only as a football player and the intangibles but also the type of person he is,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cThe tape speaks for itself. He\u2019s all over the field and makes plays everywhere.<\/p>\n \u201cHis instincts are second to none. [Rodriguez] can play in space on third downs, and he\u2019s going to help this football team, but he\u2019s also a leader. He\u2019s a green-dot guy who will call the defense in time, and I think he\u2019ll fit really well in the room with Brooks and [Tyrel Dodson]. He\u2019d be a great addition to the Miami Dolphins.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tEduardo Razo<\/a> Eduardo Razo is a sports writer for Heavy.com, covering the NFL, MLB, and college football. He has previously covered the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB for NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area & California, and has freelanced for PSG Talk, covering Paris Saint-Germain. He also worked as an editor at Athlon Sports, focusing on MLB and the NFL. More about Eduardo Razo<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty (Photo by Megan Briggs\/Getty Images) The Miami Dolphins have had their share of talented linebackers, one of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":246133,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-246132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246132\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}