Buried Vikings Defender Is Gaining Steam
The Minnesota Vikings have had some camp standouts. In the secondary, the two cornerbacks, Jeff Okudah and Isaiah Rodgers, have managed to overcome some of the concerns at that spot, and offensively, Lucky Jackson has played himself into the spotlight with a chance to make the 53-man roster.
Buried Vikings Defender Is Gaining Steam
On the defensive front, there are various playmakers, including the edge trio of Andrew Van Ginkel, Jonathan Greenard, and Dallas Turner. In the middle, Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen have also made their presence felt early in their Vikings tenure.
Because of those two players, a 2024 draft choice was quite the roster bubble player entering training camp, but Levi Drake Rodriguez has seemingly made enough progression to have an inside track for the 53-man roster.
Pretty much daily, one reporter leaves training camp with the defender on his mind. He’s regularly in the camp notes of Minnesota’s beat reporters, and the coaches have elevated him to the first-team defense numerous times.
Consider Purple Insider Matthew Coller’s recent words: “Javon Hargrave also did not participate for the second straight practice. In his place, we saw a lot of Levi Drake Rodriguez. The 2025 seventh-rounder has looked like he is on a mission this summer. He looks like he has gained strength and explosiveness since last year and has found his way into the backfield repeatedly during practice. It would not be a surprise if he and Jalen Redmond were both used often alongside the starting three DTs.”
In his debut season, Rodriguez was buried on the depth chart, standing on the sidelines in street clothes most games. He logged a whopping six defensive snaps and 11 on special teams, playing in only two contests. Harrison Phillips, Jerry Tillery, and Jonathan Bullard were the top three interior guys, with Jihad Ward coming onto the field on passing downs. Early in the season, Taki Taimani was the next man up, and Jalen Redmond snatched that role later in the year.
This offseason, the Vikings replaced Bullard and Tillery with the two former Pro Bowlers Allen and Hargrave, and Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins was added in the draft. Suddenly, that’s too many players for the limited roster spots. So far in camp, however, Rodriguez and Redmond have emerged as the two top backups along the defensive line.
It’s not surprising that someone who didn’t compete against the top competition in college would need a year to adjust to the NFL level. After three years playing at SAGU (Southwestern Assemblies of God) in the NAIA’s Sooner Athletic Conference in Texas, he spent the last two seasons at Texas A&M Commerce in the FCS, where he was named FCS All-American in 2023. The program had just been elevated from D2 to D1 FCS when he got there in 2022.
Will Ragatz of Si.com wrote Wednesday, “Second-year defensive tackle Levi Drake Rodriguez had a strong day on Wednesday and has put together a nice camp. He’s gotten some work with the first-team defense when starters have rested, and he seems to be securing his spot on the 53-man roster. LDR plays with a ton of energy.”
The Vikings’ first unofficial depth chart featured the sophomore as one of three backups (Ingram-Dawkins joining Redmond and Rodriguez), ahead of Taimani, who’s with the third team.
It’s not uncommon to keep six defensive linemen, and Rodriguez would currently be one of those.
In May, I noted that “Rodriguez needs a strong summer. In training camp and the preseason (he was fantastic in last year’s exhibition), he has to unseat either Taimani or Redmond and avoid the emergence of one of the other guys.”
Through the first week of August, Rodriguez checks all of those boxes.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.