{"id":1014816,"date":"2026-09-30T13:09:24","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T13:09:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/1014816\/"},"modified":"2026-09-30T13:09:24","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T13:09:24","slug":"dolphins-jacob-rodriguez-as-defensive-rookie-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/1014816\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolphins’ Jacob Rodriguez as Defensive Rookie of the Year?"},"content":{"rendered":"

MIAMI GARDENS \u2014 Take a deep dive<\/a> into Miami Dolphins rookie linebacker Jacob Rodriguez\u2019s first career interception, the way Rodriguez himself dove to secure the football before it hit the ground.<\/p>\n

Late in the first half in last Sunday\u2019s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs<\/a>, quarterback Patrick Mahomes had his team around midfield. Rodriguez was showing blitz from Mahomes\u2019 right before the snap, threatening to shoot through the B-gap, between the guard and tackle.<\/p>\n

As the ball was snapped, he backed off from that look and, suddenly, after wide receiver Xavier Worthy motioned toward the middle, he ran straight back up the seam with the player who set an NFL scouting combine record for the fastest 40-yard dash.<\/p>\n

Mahomes, though, wasn\u2019t looking his way. He had wide receiver Rashee Rice open on the other side coming over the deep middle on a post pattern. The future Hall of Fame quarterback had to step left as linebacker Jordyn Brooks sent him that way running a stunt with defensive tackle Zach Sieler, who rushed Mahomes\u2019 timing.<\/p>\n

The pass to Rice was behind him. It ricocheted off him as he went to the ground. Safety Dante Trader Jr. tipped it up higher. And before you know it, Rodriguez, 22 yards downfield and on the opposite side from where he started, somehow made it to the spot to launch his body and catch the football before it fell incomplete.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a dog, man,\u201d Trader said Monday as he couldn\u2019t believe the play made. \u201cWhen I watched it on tape, I\u2019m like, where did he come from? Because, knew the system, I\u2019m in a deep half, the speed was to the field. How did he get over here when the ball tipped over off my shoulder?<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s exactly how instinctual he is. So, it allows him to come make that play. And then, obviously, he\u2019s got some return skills, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the other part of the play. Rodriguez immediately realized he had only been contacted by teammates in cornerback JuJu Brents and safety Michael Taaffe while he was on the ground. He quickly got up and looked to add field position and putting together an 18-yard return after shaking tight end Travis Kelce from a tackle.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know what was cool about it? He just got up and started running,\u201d coach Jeff Hafley highlighted after the game. \u201cYou saw his strength. You saw his athleticism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added Trader: \u201cHe could have really cribbed it, but just one block away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rodriguez, of course, chalked it up to just doing his job, while crediting his teammates.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we ever get tips and overthrows as a defense, we have to be able to capitalize on that,\u201d he said after the game. \u201cAnd so being able to cover the field, but it was mainly guys doing their job and guys being in the right spot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rodriguez\u2019s play has him, not just in the Defensive Rookie of the Year conversation<\/a>, but betting odds and prediction markets now label him the favorite after Week 3, leapfrogging New York Jets edge rusher David Bailey this week.<\/p>\n

Rodriguez is second among rookies in tackles, with 28 through three games, trailing Tennessee\u2019s Anthony Hill Jr. by six. Keep in mind Rodriguez is doing that playing alongside last year\u2019s NFL leader in tackles, Brooks. He\u2019s going to gobble up some of those tackles the way a basketball player may sacrifice rebounds to a great rebounding teammate. Now, Rodriguez has an interception to go with it, and you know he\u2019s eventually going to get his fist on a football to punch it out for a forced fumble<\/a> in due time.<\/p>\n

Dolphins Deep Dive: Is Rodriguez an early defensive MVP candidate? | VIDEO<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The rookie out of Texas Tech is known to be Texas through and through, but as the Dolphins (0-3) travel to face the Minnesota Vikings (3-0) this Sunday, it\u2019s actually a return to his place of birth. Rodriguez was born in Hastings, Minnesota, moving to Wichita Falls, Texas when he was 10.<\/p>\n

As he carries the pivotal responsibility of wearing the green dot on his helmet<\/a> as the player designated to relay defensive calls from Hafley to his teammates, Miami\u2019s defense did a fine job against the potent Kansas City offense to hold Mahomes and Co. to 17 points until the Chiefs added another touchdown with three minutes remaining.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s never as good as it was, never as bad as it was until you watch the tape, but I\u2019m pleased with that,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cI\u2019m pleased with the intensity. I\u2019m pleased with the physicality of his defense and of this team. I believe in everybody, front office, coaches, players, I believe in everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, in a true sign of leadership as a young player, he wasn\u2019t satisfied.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow we have to get better at the football part of it,\u201d he continued. \u201cWe have to get better at the Xs and Os, and that\u2019s with us. That\u2019s doing our job. We had way too many explosives<\/a> (Sunday) as a defense. I thought we came out and played the run well. Obviously, really good players offensively for them, but we have to do our job and we didn\u2019t do a good enough job.\u201d<\/p>\n

His coach, though, is plenty pleased with where he stands at this point.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou talk about certain players, for Game 3 of a rookie playing in the NFL against a Hall of Fame quarterback and some really good players,\u201d Hafley said, \u201cjust the way he communicated and the way he just kept going and the way he tackled \u2014 obviously, just like the rest of us, there is stuff to clean up \u2014 but there\u2019s progress there with him, too.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI GARDENS \u2014 Take a deep dive into Miami Dolphins rookie linebacker Jacob Rodriguez\u2019s first career interception, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1014817,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2049],"tags":[217,7,35794,216,251,2087,6],"class_list":["post-1014816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami-dolphins","tag-dolphins","tag-football","tag-jacob-rodriguez","tag-miami","tag-miami-dolphins","tag-miamidolphins","tag-nfl"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117360155932763876","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1014816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1014816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1014816\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1014817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1014816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1014816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1014816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}