Oklahoma State football: Top 3 Prospects for 2022 NFL Draft
By John Scimeca
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Malcolm Rodriguez LB
When the NCAA offered a one-year eligibility extension to football student-athletes following the 2020 season, star linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez became one of six OSU players to take advantage of the situation. The Wagoner, Okla. product will return to Stillwater as a fifth-year senior in 2021. With experience at safety, Rodriguez could provide an NFL team with a run-stopping linebacker who can still cover an opposing wideout or tight end in coverage.
Rodriguez was a rock for an improved OSU defense in 2020, helping the unit dramatically improve in yards allowed and points allowed per game for the second consecutive season. The team allowed only 23.5 points per game last year, the third-best mark in the Big 12.
Rodriguez’s 58 solo tackles led all Big 12 players and all Power Five linebackers in 2020, helping him land second-team All-Big 12 honors for the second straight year. He’s led the Cowboys in total tackles in both 2019 and 2020 after finishing last season with 82 stops.
Born in Tahlequah, Okla., Rodriguez ended up playing high school football in Wagoner, where he led the Bulldogs to three straight state championships as a starting quarterback and defensive back. The fifth-year senior will hope to improve his NFL stock with an OSU defense that was at times the strength of the team during an 8-3 finish in 2020.