{"id":835802,"date":"2026-03-26T23:57:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T23:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/835802\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T23:57:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T23:57:16","slug":"rodriguez-and-gill-howard-showcase-talent-at-texas-tech-pro-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/835802\/","title":{"rendered":"Rodriguez and Gill-Howard showcase talent at Texas Tech Pro Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Texas Tech<\/a> hosted its Pro Day early Thursday morning, with multiple Red Raiders taking the stage as multiple NFL Scouts\/Head Coaches watched. Some of the players spoke to the media following the conclusion of the Pro Day, including Skyler Gill-Howard<\/a> and Jacob Rodriguez<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jacob Rodriguez<\/p>\n

Rodriguez was asked what it meant to be back on campus after closing out his final season as a Red Raider in January.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut man, I was more happy about all those other guys.\u00a0Like Bryce Ramirez<\/a> had a day.\u00a0Caleb Douglas<\/a> had a day. And it was nice to have more than 100 NFL staff, personnel\u00a0out here, and looking at the guys that we got,\u00a0and especially those four up front,\u00a0and how everything happens that way.\u00a0I think I had a good day, but it was a lot of fun\u00a0to watch all those other guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s obviously every high-level college football player\u2019s dream to enter the NFL, and Jacob Rodriguez will have that dream fulfilled in April while being supported by the Texas Tech coaching staff and his teammates.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u00a0mean, it\u2019s why you play football. It\u2019s why you have a dream as a little kid\u00a0to be in a place like this, who fosters relationships real well and creates that family atmosphere, where you got\u00a0people that want to come out, and they actually\u00a0see the community out here and know that everything out here\u00a0is real.\u00a0And it\u2019s not just for show.\u00a0And so it was good to have everybody out here and see\u00a0this amazing facility that we have, and the amazing people that we have inside the facility. So it was awesome\u201d<\/p>\n

During the 2025 season, J-Rod became synonymous with turnover generation and NFL teams have taken note of his great talent in that department.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a lot of teams like how I can take the football away,\u00a0and it\u2019s a huge difference in winning football games\u00a0is winning the turnover battle.\u00a0And so that\u2019s a big thing that we talk about,\u00a0is different ways to be able to do that. And then also where I can plug and play in different spots.\u00a0And so sometimes some teams see me in certain positions,\u00a0and some teams see me in others.\u00a0But whatever the case may be, I\u2019m\u00a0more excited to play on defense, but then\u00a0be able to find a role in special teams\u00a0and really help out any way we can to win football games.\u201d<\/p>\n

Skyler Gill-Howard<\/p>\n

Gill-Howard opened with a little bit of an introduction prior to his first question.<\/p>\n

\u201cPro Day was amazing.\u00a0Seeing a bunch of familiar faces here was just a blessing.\u00a0And to be able to go out there and compete like I did five months post-surgery was just a blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n

As every Red Raider will recall, SGH (Skyler Gill-Howard) was injured in October versus Kansas, and was unavailable for the remainder of his final season at Texas Tech. Although, Gill-Howard was able to participate in today\u2019s activities, and he was happy with his performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I think I performed above average being five months post-surgery.\u00a0Doc told me I wouldn\u2019t be 100% until next month.\u00a0And I felt great today, 100% today. So I was really proud of what I did.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know if I was going to do Pro Day a few months ago.\u00a0So just to come out here and be able to compete was all I wanted to do.\u00a0And I consider that a success.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was also extremely pleased with being able to return to campus and reconnect with some of his teammates at Texas Tech during today\u2019s drills.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels amazing.\u00a0Obviously, I went down halfway throughout the season to come out here and actually be able to run on that practice field again.\u00a0I haven\u2019t done it in a while. It was just an amazing feeling, especially being with my guys, David, Lee, Mello, and the rest of them.\u00a0It was an awesome feeling.\u00a0It was surreal.But we competed today, and I\u2019m proud of all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

SGH was specifically asked about his timeline from his injury\/surgery to being able to participate today as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, so once I found out I wasn\u2019t coming back here for another year, I left out of here January 27th. And I was feeling good, but I wasn\u2019t feeling the greatest.\u00a0I still had a lot of troubles with changing direction.\u00a0It was a rocky process. I was still rehabbing while training for the Combine, so I couldn\u2019t really just focus on the 40, 5-10-5 or the other drills.\u00a0I really had to get my ankle right before any of that.\u00a0So it took about a month to do that, and then after the Combine is when we kind of ramped things up, and I started to feel amazing.\u00a0So I was like, you know what, let\u2019s do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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