The Vikings’ New D-Lineman Earns Praise for “Controlled Chaos” and “Juice”
“I don’t know,” Kevin O’Connell said in a tongue-in-cheek manner, “if it’s the hair or what it is.”
The affable head coach was talking about 7th-Round rookie Levi Drake Rodriguez, the Vikings’ new d-lineman who is inspiring a lot of optimism. Not unlike Dalton Risner on offense, Rodriguez has quickly established a reputation for being someone who genuinely plays to the whistle. O’Connell has taken notice and has been impressed.
LDR, The Vikings’ New D-Lineman, Impressing KOC
Consider some of what Kevin O’Connell had to say.
“I just, I love the activeness,” the head coach begins, “I mean, it seems like he is, it’s kind of controlled chaos sometimes when Levi is doing his thing.” He goes on: “He’s doing a lot of really good things. He’s provided some energy and juice to that room in different phases. And I think he’s elevated the whole room just from a standpoint of just that active nature at which he plays the game. It’s sideline to sideline.”
O’Connell suggests that the 7th-Round rookie has elevated the whole room. Had Minnesota signed Christian Wilkins, then the words would make sense. But a late-round DT who isn’t even a lock to make the roster? That’s some serious praise.
And then the insistence about being a sideline-to-sideline player. Folks, that’s a description that gets tossed around for stud linebackers. Patrick Willis and Luke Kuechly were sideline-to-sideline players. Ivan Pace Jr. is working toward becoming that player. Seeing Rodriguez get that description is certainly a bit eyebrow raising (in a good way).
O’Connell went a bit further with the praise for his young defender: “Levi is a guy we’re really excited about, he’s had a really good camp.”
No doubt, the preseason tilts have led to some great moment for the defensive tackle with excellent hair. Consider Exhibit A:
And then Exhibit B:
Go ahead and re-watch that first clip. Rodriguez wallops the offensive lineman. Almost guaranteed, the d-line room got a lot of joy watching that clip and Marcus Dixon — the defensive line coach — very likely offered no shortage of praise for the effort. Brian Flores, too.
For whatever it’s worth, PFF has been impressed with the work that Levi Drake Rodriguez has been doing. The Las Vegas game resulted in a 71.6 grade while the Cleveland game led to a 75.2 grade. There have been a pair of tackles and the sack, but even on plays that don’t count on the stat sheet LDR is making his presence felt (just ask the offensive lineman who got walloped in one of the above clips).
Rodriguez, 24, is listed at 6’4″ and 290 pounds. He’ll be looking to put together another impressive performance in tomorrow’s game against the Eagles, a team that has recently had a very strong offensive line.
A roster spot isn’t guaranteed, but look for the young defensive tackle to be kept around as Minnesota descends to 53 players on Tuesday. For good reason, Kevin O’Connell has been impressed.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF helped with this piece.
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K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter and as a co-host for Notes from the North, a humble Vikings podcast.