Miami Dolphins running back De’Von Achane is excited to see how one new draft pick performs this upcoming 2026 NFL season. On Day 2 of the 2026 NFL Draft, the Dolphins selected former Texas Tech Red Raiders linebacker Jacob Rodriguez.
Last season for the Red Raiders, Rodriguez played 631 total snaps, leading to a 93.3 overall PFF defensive grade. Moreover, the Dolphins linebacker recorded 81 solo tackles, four total pressures, one sack, an 82.7 passer rating when targeted in coverage, and was charged with 17 missed tackles.
As a result, it was this production, and Rodriguez’s performance in the Senior Bowl, that caught Achane’s attention, who didn’t think would be available for Miami in the second round.
“I ain’t gonna lie, when they got the linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, I had never seen him play,” Achane said on the May 25 edition of “The Set.” “Somebody ended up just putting his highlights from the Senior Bowl on Twitter. I said, ‘He strapped,‘ and I am talking about strapped. I said, ‘Okay, he might be nice.’
“And he gets the ball a lot. I think he had like the most turnovers, but he gets the ball a lot. And even when we are doing seven-on-seven, you know what I am saying, he always gets the ball. He knows where to be.
“So I was pretty shocked. I was like, he fell that late. They were thinking he was going to be gone, but I did not know who he was, so I had to watch him, watch some film. But he nice, bro, he nice.”
Dolphins Get Blunt Message on Rebuild
Rodriguez and Achane will be part of the Dolphins’ rebuild. One player who wasn’t going to be was veteran tight end Darren Waller. During the May 14 edition of “All the Smoke,“ Waller shared his thoughts on the Miami rebuild, noting that he believed that the team would have a fire sale.
“With the way they’re going, they’re kind of blowing everything up,“ Waller said. “I thought for a second they were going to trade everybody. They got everybody, but they traded Waddle. I thought they were going to trade [De’Von] Achane for a minute, but I would definitely keep him. I’d build everything around him.”
Jacob Rodriguez Looks to Carve Out Own Legacy in Miami
Miami has ties to Texas Tech linebackers, as Dolphins legend Zach Thomas played college football there. Rodriguez will be his own player, but there’s no hiding that he wants to follow in Thomas’s footsteps and etch his name as a Dolphin great and Hall of Famer.
On May 9, the new Miami linebacker spoke with reporters and shared what it’s been like being in the Dolphins’ facilities and seeing Thomas’s pictures everywhere.
“It means a lot, especially seeing him around the facility and on all the walls everywhere,“ Rodriguez said on May 9. “It’s surreal knowing he came from where I was and was doing the same thing. That’s what I want to be one day: a Hall of Famer.
“It makes it really easy to see the blueprint of what he did. He reached out right after I got drafted, and he’s the best. He really is a great person and a great human being, along with being a great football player.”
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