‘Don’t see it stopping in the NFL’—One of the many Miami Dolphins rookies catches a heaping of praise from rival executives and scouts
There’s no shortage of Miami Dolphins rookies who will be playing this season. One of them was given a mountain of praise ahead of the season.
Good luck picking out the most impactful Miami Dolphins rookie from their 2026 draft class. Teams are given a pick in each of the seven rounds of the annual draft. The Dolphins selected nearly twice that many in April.
And the road is clear for MANY to play. A LOT. Yet one of the Dolphins’ rookies was recently recognized by The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue as a part of her ‘NFL Future Hits List’. The list is designed to recognize the 15 NFL rookies generating the most buzz from personnel across the league. And the quotes are eye-opening, to say the least. The NFL sure is feeling it with Dolphins rookie LB Jacob Rodriguez.
Miami Dolphins rookie linebacker Jacob Rodriguez catches a mountain of praise from rival executives
An AFC executive in the piece was quoted on the record of Rodriguez: “Former quarterback, self-made into a linebacker. Highly productive, instinctive, excellent character makeup. Turnover machine.” Yet another AFC scout called him a “ball magnet” and thinks the trend will continue. “Don’t see it stopping in the NFL.”
Rodriguez, of course, supplanted LB Tyrel Dodson from a starting spot (and off the roster entirely). That’s a heck of a feat, given Dodson’s production and experience as a stack linebacker at the NFL level. Head coach Jeff Hafley will surely be hoping that the Dolphins (and these other scouts & executives) are right about Rodriguez. His impact play ability could help Miami overachieve and bring Hafley’s defensive vision to life.
We know he’ll be in the lineup on Sunday against the Raiders, along with a slew of his fellow rookies. The question now? Whether or not Rodriguez brings the impact version of himself to life sooner rather than later. A pair of AFC executives seem to think so.
Miami Dolphins News