Jacob Rodriguez plays a big role for the Texas Tech defense in his return from injury
Prior to Thursday, the last time we saw linebacker Jacob Rodriguez on the field was in the first half of the season opener at Wyoming. Since then, a foot injury has kept him sidelined.
However, he was able to finally return against TCU and immediately, he made an impact. With six tackles (four solo) he was third on the team in stops and that came despite the fact that his snaps were limited as a precaution.
It appears that Rodriguez and redshirt freshman Ben Roberts are the preferred inside LB tandem. That duo was on the field together the most on Thursday as senior Jesiah Pierre continues to see his role decline as the season rolls on.
The former transfer from Florida had only one tackle against TCU and had just one the game prior against BYU. That’s surprising given that he was the team’s leading tackler a few games into the season.
As for Rodriguez, he is in an interesting spot though. He still has yet to redshirt at the NCAA level so if he sits out one more game this year, he will be able to use this year as a redshirt and still have three years left to play.
However, he is integral to what the Red Raiders want to do on defense. Thus, as long as there is a chance for bowl eligibility, it is hard to imagine McGuire and his staff holding Rodriguez out.
Of course, if Tech were to win its final two games to get to six wins, it might make sense to sit Rodriguez in the season finale at Texas so that he can keep his year of eligibility. (Bowl games do not count toward a player’s redshirt eligibility so he could play in the postseason.)
For now, it appears that it will be full steam ahead for Rodriguez, though. But keep an eye on how he is utilized the rest of the year because what to do with his potential redshirt is an interesting decision that the Tech coaches will have to make.