![\"Jacob](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2246887068-e1776396778510.jpg\")
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Jacob Rodriguez #10 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders could land with the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL draft.<\/p>\n
When it comes to offseason priorities, once the Dallas Cowboys<\/a> had defensive coordinator Christian Parker in place, the general sentiment was that the team would look to fill the biggest hole on the roster\u2013linebacker\u2013quickly and effectively. And by most accounts, they tried, with free-agent pitches to three of the best linebackers on the market: Devin Lloyd<\/a>, Quay Walker<\/a> and Nakobe Dean<\/a>. But the Cowboys struck out on that front, and we\u2019re now one week out from the draft, with Dallas still very much in need of someone (or maybe two) to man the middle of the defense.<\/p>\n There has been talk of trade targets, or of bringing in well-aged veterans. But no matter what the Cowboys do in terms of transactions for established linebackers, it\u2019s almost certain that Dallas will draft at least one rookie linebacker in the coming days.<\/p>\n And it is clear that Texas Tech star Jacob Rodriguez would like that rookie to be him.<\/p>\n Jacob Rodriguez Would \u2018Love to be\u2019 With Cowboys<\/p>\n Rodriguez was a star in Lubbock this season as the Red Raiders<\/a> beefed up their defense into one of the best in the nation. He followed up a 2024 season in which he recorded 127 tackles, including 77 solo tackles (which led the nation), with 128 tackles last year, also adding four interceptions and two fumble recoveries. He was also named the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year,<\/a> and was given the award at the Cowboys\u2019 facility on Thursday night.<\/p>\n Asked about the possibility of being drafted by the Cowboys, Rodriguez did not hesitate<\/a>: \u201cI would argue that anybody that sees this facility would say they\u2019d love to be here. It\u2019s an amazing place, filled with amazing people.\u201d<\/p>\n Cowboys Had Meeting at NFL draft Combine<\/p>\n Rodriguez did say he has had contact with the Cowboys, who currently own picks No. 12 and 20, and don\u2019t pick again until No. 92 in the third round. Most likely, 20th is too high for Rodriguez, who is considered a mid-second-rounder, but it\u2019s possible that the Cowboys could add a second-round pick if they made an NFL<\/a> draft trade.<\/p>\n Rodriguez said the Cowboys left an impression on him.<\/p>\n \u201cI was fortunate enough to have a visit with them at the combine, a full interview with them. I really love coach and everything we were talking about in that room. As the process has gone along, they actually got to come out to Lubbock for our pro day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cSo we got to sit down and have dinner with them. I think the biggest thing is, they\u2019re just great people. I believe they\u2019re great coaches, CP and their defensive staff are going to do a lot of good things this year, they are a lot of great people to be around. But the biggest thing was, they\u2019re great people. And they\u2019re really cool to be around. And they\u2019re great guys.\u201d<\/p>\n Jacob Rodriguez Interceptions \u2018Set Me Apart\u2019<\/p>\n It\u2019s likely the feeling is mutual. The Cowboys are expected to pick one of line backer CJ Allen of Georgia, Anthony Hill of Texas or Rodriguez, either late in the first round or early in the second.<\/p>\n Rodriguez gave a self-scouting report: \u201cI take the football away at a high level. I think that\u2019s what you want, as a defensive player, to go for the ball. The biggest part, if you have great teammates who are able to\u2014you can play free that way.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody\u2019s running to the football and when you have guys who are willing to strain as hard as they can to pick the ball up or get to the quarterback, so I can be in position to make a play when the ball is thrown. All that stuff really helps, but I think that is what set me apart this year.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tSean Deveney<\/a> is a veteran sports reporter covering the NBA, NFL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2019 and has more than two decades of experience covering the NBA, including 17 years as the lead NBA reporter for the Sporting News. Deveney is the author of 7 nonfiction books, including “Fun City,” “Before Wrigley became Wrigley,” and “Facing Michael Jordan.” More about Sean Deveney<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Cowboys\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Jacob Rodriguez #10 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders could land with the Dallas Cowboys in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":253753,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103],"class_list":{"0":"post-253752","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-dallas","9":"tag-dallas-headlines","10":"tag-dallas-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}