Vikings’ Second-Year Defender Finished the Preseason with a Bang
The Minnesota Vikings now have a losing streak. Granted, it’s just two games, and the preseason record also doesn’t play a role. One Vikings defender still finished the preseason on a high note, and that’s 2024 seventh-rounder Levi Drake Rodriguez.
Vikings’ Second-Year Defender Delivers Explosive Preseason Finish
He had a strong preseason a year ago, and he repeated his domination in the exhibition matchups. Rodriguez was added with a late-round selection in April of 2024. His rookie season was pretty much a redshirt year, but the current constitution of the defensive tackle room could help him get his reps, especially if he can repeatedly show the potential he flashed in Tennessee.
The sophomore defender received a team-high PFF grade of 90.4 for his effort. He added one sack and two tackles to the stat sheet. PFF counts sacks a little differently (officially, a shared sack counts as .5, but PFF counts it as a full sack), so he finished with two sacks, one QB hit, and three QB pressures.
It is fascinating that he was credited with 39 snaps, with 26 of those coming in the B-gap, meaning he played the role of a defensive end in Brian Flores’ system, rather than a nose tackle. Eight snaps came in the A-gap (you might remember Mike Zimmer’s double-A-blitz with Eric Kendricks and Anthony Barr. The A-gap is between center and guard, and the B-gap between guard and tackle.
If he can play various positions along the line, that’s his best bet to receive playing time in his second season. The Vikings just traded team captain and starter Harrison Phillips to the New York Jets, and suddenly, there are 500 snaps available for other players. Sure, some of those will just be obtained by backup Jalen Redmond, and Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins wants his plays, too. Perhaps even Taki Taimani, because he can play some of Phillips’ nose tackle snaps.
Regardless, Rodriguez has impressed this summer in the preseason and in training camp.
Consider Purple Insider Matthew Coller’s words from a couple of weeks ago: “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.”
If he was part of the top five linemen before, he’s now in the top four. Last season, the Vikings kept Rodriguez around, but deemed him “not ready,” with only two appearances and six defensive snaps all year.
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah joined the broadcast booth during the preseason game and he was asked about his 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.”
Those “elite” skills were on full display against the Titans, even making plays against their first-team blockers.
If there was any doubt remaining whether Rodriguez might not be on the team after cutdown day, he likely erased those. Furthermore, he made a strong case to be in the Week 1 rotation to chase Caleb Williams.
He needed a year to fully arrive at the highest 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.
Expect the sophomore to play a role in year two.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.