Vikings Still High on NFL Longshot Levi Drake Rodriguez

Only 15 players from Texas A&M Commerce have ever played in the NFL. Most of them you’ve never heard of. Levi Drake Rodriguez is looking to become the 16th. But the Minnesota Vikings’ final pick in the 2024 NFL Draft is a longshot.

The seventh-round pick was the 232nd player selected in April’s draft, but now he’s among 10 players competing for a roster spot on the Vikings’ defensive line. Last year, only five defensive linemen made the Vikings’ initial 53-man roster. Can Rodriguez beat the odds?

Vikings love Levi Drake Rodriguez’s potential

Seventh-round picks are never a sure thing. Just because the Vikings liked Levi Drake Rodriguez enough to draft him four months ago, he still has a lot of work to do to earn a roster spot. However, the early returns have been positive for the 6-foot-2, 300-pound prospect.

Several players struggled during the first week of Vikings training camp. Meanwhile, many others stood out for positive reasons. LDR was in the latter category.

“Evaluating rookie Levi Drake Rodriguez has been difficult, but multiple Vikings staffers have shared that they’re high on his potential development.”

The Athletic’s Alec Lewis

Levi Drake Rodriguez just cooked someone in 1-on-1 and chest bumped DL coach Marcus Dixon, electric stuff out here

— Alec Lewis (@alec_lewis) July 31, 2024

Rodriguez has had a long journey to the NFL

Levi Drake Rodriguez is a raw prospect. After all, he was a zero-star recruit who didn’t receive a single major offer to play college football. But that never sapped his determination.

So when Rodriguez didn’t get any offers, he signed as a two-star athlete (baseball and football) with Southwestern Assemblies of God University, an NAIA program. This level of competition doesn’t even reach the status of a D-II school.

After being named as a two-time first-team All-SAC defender, Rodriguez emailed the Texas A&M-Commerce Lions’ defensive line coach, just hoping he could garner some attention. It worked. Rodriguez was invited to a football camp, where the coach instantly recognized a “man amongst boys with violence and intensity.”

Levi Drake Rodriguez was PFF’s 2nd highest graded DT for pass rush last year (of 194 starting DTs in FBS and FCS combined), just behind Byron Murphy II

He also had the 2nd best pass rush win percentage for DTs, again behind only Byron Murphy II https://t.co/8iuW9LyXPe

— Krauser (@Krauserrific) April 27, 2024

Rodriguez flourished after the transfer, earning first-team All-American honors from Pro Football Focus in his second season on campus. He ended his career with the Lions, having started all 21 games, where he recorded 88 tackles, 13.5 TFL, and 7.5 sacks.

Already the first player ever drafted from his high school (East View High School in Georgetown, Texas), Rodriguez is also the first player drafted from Texas A&M-Commerce since 2000. If those aren’t long odds, we don’t know what is. But there’s a big difference between being on a 90-man roster and cracking the final 53. So far, so good, but the journey is just beginning.

For those curious, Rodriguez wears No. 50, and our first chance to see him in live action comes on Saturday, August 10, against the Las Vegas Raiders for the Vikings’ preseason opener. The rookie is a good bet to see several snaps, allowing the coaching staff a proper environment to evaluate what he’s capable of against other NFL hopefuls.