LR #50

Levi Drake Rodriguez

Defensive Tackle · East Texas A&M

A seventh-round riser who jumped from FCS ball at East Texas A&M to a real interior role on Minnesota's defensive line.

Levi Drake Rodriguez took a long road to the NFL, starting at Southwestern Assemblies of God before transferring to East Texas A&M (then Texas A&M-Commerce) and bulking up into a disruptive interior defender. Minnesota took a seventh-round flier on him in 2024, and he has since developed into a rotational contributor on the Vikings' defensive line.

★ Seventh-round pick, 2024 NFL Draft (No. 232 overall)

★ First-team All-Southland Conference, East Texas A&M, 2023

★ 43 tackles and 2.0 sacks in a breakout 2025 season

Path to the league

Rodriguez started 26 games over three seasons at Southwestern Assemblies of God before transferring to Texas A&M-Commerce (now East Texas A&M) in 2022, where he moved inside to defensive tackle and added significant weight. He earned first-team All-Southland Conference honors in 2023 after leading his team with 7.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. The Minnesota Vikings selected him in the seventh round of the 2024 NFL Draft, No. 232 overall, via a trade with Houston.

Career highlights

Rodriguez was viewed as a high-upside, high-motor prospect who needed development time to jump from the FCS level to the NFL. He played sparingly as a rookie in 2024, appearing in just two games, before earning a much larger role in his second season.

2025 season recap

Rodriguez broke out in his sophomore season, appearing in all 16 games with two starts and recording 43 tackles, including 2.0 sacks, seven quarterback hurries and two hits. He played over half of Minnesota's defensive snaps in eight contests, including each of the team's final three regular-season games.