Jacob Rodriguez hits the Heisman pose with Mark Ingram II, Robert Griffin III, and Matt Leinart on Big Noon Kickoff. Credit: Big Noon Kickoff
By Sam Neumann on

Robert Griffin III has made his Heisman pick, and it’s not a quarterback. It’s not a running back. It’s not even someone who touches the ball on offense. The 2011 Heisman winner spent Saturday’s Big Noon Kickoff making an impassioned case for Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, running through his credentials and his story before making a direct plea to Heisman voters.

Then Griffin, Matt Leinart, Mark Ingram II, and Rodriguez all struck the Heisman pose together on live TV.

Three of those guys won the award. Could Rodriguez be the fourth?

“[Fernando] Mendoza, the supercomputer, and Julian ‘Super’ Sayin from Ohio State — don’t give me either of them,” Griffin said. “Give me the mustache wearer, the Cowboy hat wearer, the Army Black Hawk–wife-having Jacob Rodriguez. Why not? This guy’s got better numbers than Manti Te’o when he was the Heisman runner-up. This guy has an amazing story, and he’s leading the No. 1 defense in the country at Texas Tech. So why not have the defensive guy win the Heisman Trophy? This man right here is the best player in the country. He is my Heisman Winner.”

Get him to New York, man,” Leinart chimed in. “Let’s go.”

“Do the right thing,” Rob Stone added.

It’s rare that we see a player from another Big 12 program make an in-person appearance at the site of Big Noon Kickoff, especially when that player’s team isn’t even playing that week. But Rodriguez and the Red Raiders were idle after a 48-9 drubbing of Scott Frost and UCF, giving him the opportunity to show up in Cincinnati and make his case to a national audience. And Griffin, who’s been pounding the drum for Rodriguez for weeks now, used the platform to turn what had been a niche campaign into a full-blown national conversation.

Rodriguez came into Saturday with 100 tackles, four interceptions, and seven forced fumbles. Those forced fumbles lead the entire Big 12, and the interceptions tie for the conference lead. He’s been the heartbeat of a Texas Tech defense that’s allowing just 12.3 points per game — third in the nation. The Red Raiders are 10-1 and ranked fifth in the country, and they’re one win away from almost certainly playing in the Big 12 Championship game.

Griffin mentioned the Manti Te’o comparison for a reason. When the Notre Dame linebacker finished runner-up in 2012, he had 103 tackles, seven interceptions, 5.5 tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks for an undefeated Fighting Irish team. Rodriguez has matched or exceeded those numbers in multiple categories while leading a team that’s on the doorstep of a College Football Playoff berth.

Rodriguez has a compelling backstory, too. He transferred from Virginia after playing as a freshman quarterback in 2021, arrived at Texas Tech too late to secure a scholarship, and slept on his brother’s dorm room floor for a semester before earning his spot.

The problem isn’t Rodriguez’s resume or his backstory. It’s that defensive players don’t win the Heisman anymore. The last purely defensive player to win was Michigan’s Charles Woodson in 1997, and he also returned punts and played some receiver. Te’o came the closest since, finishing second to Johnny Manziel in one of the closest votes in Heisman history. Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson finished second in 2021. Travis Hunter won last year despite playing both ways, but much of his hype centered on his offensive production.

A linebacker leading the nation’s best defense on a team headed for the College Football Playoff should be in New York. Whether he actually gets there is another question. The fifth-ranked Red Raiders will travel to West Virginia on Nov. 29 to close out the regular season. If they win — and they should — they’ll face BYU in the Big 12 Championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Both teams sit at 10-1, and Texas Tech already beat the Cougars 29-7 on Nov. 8. A win this weekend, combined with a Utah loss to UCF, would officially clinch a berth in the title game.

Rodriguez has two more games to make his case. Whether he winds up in New York alongside quarterbacks like Fernando Mendoza and Julian Sayin remains to be seen. But the conversation about a defensive player winning the Heisman is louder than it’s been in over a decade. That’s at least worth something.

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

View all posts by Sam Neumann