Don’t Forget the Other Vikings Breakout Defender
The Minnesota Vikings returned to the NFL’s winning side after a one-week vacation on the losers’ side. Following Week 3, the club is 2-1, tied with the Lions and Packers for the division lead. In the game against the Cincinnati Bengals, several players stood out, but the talk is centered on Isaiah Rodgers and his two touchdowns.
Don’t Forget the Other Vikings Breakout Defender
There’s no doubt about it, Rodgers deserves his moment in the spotlight. Yet, it’s important to point to another player with a fantastic breakout performance, and that’s sophomore Levi Drake Rodriguez.
After a virtual redshirt season, he has flashed his promise in recent weeks. On Sunday, he logged a career high of 38 defensive snaps, and he was credited with four tackles, two of those for loss. PFF handed him an excellent grade of 80.4, and the man was simply unblockable, it seemed like.
Consider the words of our own Kyle Joudry, “He was making plays behind the line of scrimmage, putting the Bengals in a bad position as a result. The four tackles for Rodriguez included a pair of tackles for loss. Quick and active at 6’2″ and 290 pounds, Rodriguez offers a penetrating style of play that can give the opposition headaches.”
PFF also gave him credit for two QB pressures, one of which was the play that ended up with the Rodgers pick-six. Bengals quarterback Jake Browning was thrown off by the immediate pressure and had to scramble, likely disrupting the timing of the play.
Last year, the seventh-round rookie appeared in only two games, playing a total of six defensive snaps. Through three games this year, he’s already up to three appearances and 79 defensive snaps. He has made eight tackles and three tackles for loss in those 2025 opportunities.
All of that comes after an offseason in which there was some speculation whether he might be the odd man out in the suddenly stacked defensive line room, considering the signings of Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen, as well as the draft pick of Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins. Harrison Phillips, Jalen Redmond, and Taki Taimani returned from last year, and they were all ahead of “LDR”.
However, he showed enough flashes in training camp and in the preseason to reintroduce himself to Skol Nation, and his presence was part of the reason why the Vikings felt confident in trading away Phillips.
During a preseason game, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah joined the broadcast booth, and he was asked about his 2024 draft pick. His response: “You know, there’s second-unit players in training camp who take a ton of reps in practice and then have to go play a game a day later. I’m excited to see him with fresh legs do his thing. He has elite pass-rushing skills. And sometimes that can actually work against you when you get to your second move when you don’t need to, but [the game is starting to slow down for him], and that was a great example of that, that rush.”
Rodriguez was always going to need some time to acclimate to the NFL level after spending his college days at SAGU (Southwestern Assemblies of God) in the NAIA’s Sooner Athletic Conference in Texas and then two seasons at Texas A&M Commerce in the FCS.
However, he’s now ready to contribute. His next chance to make plays will come on Sunday, in the NFL’s first game in Dublin, Ireland.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.