Levi Drake Rodriguez is a scout's dream
The Vikings took a swing at small school Levi Drake Rodriguez, who Ryan Grigson said 'plays like a crazy man'
By Matthew Coller
In the late 1970s, Los Angeles Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley wanted to attract more Mexican fans to the ballpark in Chavez Ravine, so he asked general manager Al Campanas to send a scout to Mexico to find a player that they could make a face of the franchise.
Scout Mike Brito went there with a shortstop in mind but he quickly ran across a pitcher that he couldn’t take his eyes off. Brito convinced the Dodgers to sign a 19-year-old left-hander named Fernando Valenzuela in 1979 and the rest is history. Valenzuela became a sensation and helped the Dodgers win the World Series in 1981.
This is a quintessential sports story. The scout who finds the hidden gem where nobody else is looking. He tries desperately to convince the team and they relent and then the player goes on to prove him right. It’s cinematic stuff.
If Levi Drake Rodriguez becomes a key player for Minnesota Vikings someday, they will be telling the tale for years of the process that led a kid from Texas A&M University-Commerce to center stage in the NFL.
For the first three years of his college athletic career, Rodriguez played football and baseball at Southwestern Assemblies of God University. If you are wondering, that’s located in Waxahachie, Texas, population 45,476 according to Google.
Rodriguez was becoming a dominant football player at SAGU. He was named an NAIA All-American in his third season and thought about transferring and focusing every ounce of his being on football. In order to make his decision, the 6-foot-4, 290-pounder decided to do something you wouldn’t expect from a defensive tackle: Fast.
He didn’t eat for seven days, only drinking water and “green shakes.”
Why?
“To get my answer, to get clarity, to get a vision and understanding about the situation I was in,” Rodriguez said. “I wanted to make the best decision regarding my life and the people around me as well. I did that and I don't regret it. I lost probably eight pounds, but I gained that back fast.”
At A&M Commerce, Rodriguez took off in his final season. He was named First Team All-Southland Conference.
Vikings college scout Blaine Gramer took notice.
“I have to give a kudos to Blaine,” Vikings senior VP of player personnel Ryan Grigson said. “[He] really had some conviction early.”
The intrigue surrounding Rodriguez created buzz in the front office. Grigson watched him play against Old Dominion and noticed him standing out against tougher competition.
The more they learned about Rodriguez, the more they got excited.
“It's great when you put a guy on it that each snap, he's doing something. He's creating some sort of disruption, or he's got a splash play or he's chasing to the sideline or he's running right over a guard,” Grigson said. “It was the conviction that the area scouts showed that kind of went up the chain, like that's what we're looking for in the scouting department is having conviction for those players you really want us to take seriously in this process. It comes with conviction and then the work to have the confidence to present a player like that to management.”
The Vikings scouted Rodriguez at the Tropical Bowl, a college all-star game with a lot of FBS talent. Then the Vikings brought him in on a top 30 visit.
“That’s scouting in its purest form,” general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said. “It's my one of my favorite things. We have a lot of nicknames for it, but Day 3, it's like, for the music lovers, it's like the B side of the tape. It’s not the headline single.”
Adofo-Mensah described pre-draft meetings where scouts present their players. Who’s the one guy you really want to get? Rodriguez was one of those players.
On Saturday afternoon the Vikings had two picks in the seventh round. They weren’t sure whether they could get both players that they had eyes on. Inside the draft room there was banging on the table for Rodriguez. When the 232nd pick arrived, he was still there and the Vikings submitted his name.
“I’m not saying you do things for morale or culture or things like that, but you want to reward the hard work that all the people put into it,” Adofo-Mensah said. “We think he's a talented player, a growth-mindset player, I can't wait to get him in this building.”
Rodriguez house was turned into a block party with a food truck and dozens of friends and family who gathered with hopes that he would be drafted. It exploded in celebration when he got the call from the Vikings.
“I got up on the edge of my seat when the head coach called and I’m ready to be a Viking,” Rodriguez said. “I said, ‘let's get it,’ so I'm ready, man. I'm looking forward to this journey, this whole new chapter in my life.”
What the Vikings liked about Rodriguez aside from his size and surprisingly well-crafted pass rush moves for a small school player was his mentality. It’s the one thing that’s hardest to judge for all the draft analysts who didn’t include Rodriguez on any of their mocks or big boards. Adofo-Mensah described it as a “growth mindset.” Grigson described his demeanor as “positive energy.”
“You'll see it real quick and I don't feel like it'll be too big for him because he's just that type of guy,” Grigson said. “He's just going to keep working and he's going to do whatever it takes to get on the field. He was 280, I think, when he started the initial process after his senior year, showed up at his pro day, 300 pounds, tested really well, and just every test he's had, he really shined and really set a higher bar for himself at each step of the way.”
There is often a dose of reality that comes shortly after draft day for players like Rodriguez. There are only 49 players since 2010 to play more than 50 games in the NFL after being drafted in the seventh round. It’s an uphill battle.
The Vikings’ situation on the defensive line does open the door for Rodriguez though. They are looking for pass rushers on the interior surrounding Harrison Phillips and Jonathan Bullard.
If Rodriguez does work his way onto the roster and become a difference maker, nobody in the front office will forget the story of the Texas A&M Commerce kid who caught their scout’s eye and made everyone believe.
He is an awesome story and he seems the perfect Viking guy, a complete football maniac