Rodrigo! (the linebacker formerly known as doomslayer)

Sam Mills
London Flether
Joe Mays
Stephen Tulluch
They were all Linebackers under 6’

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image

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Ultimately if they can play they can play

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36" arms for Mills, really…

https://vault.si.com/vault/1988/12/12/little-big-linebacker-sam-mills-the-saints-5-ft-9-in-fireplug-is-often-the-shortest-man-on-the-field-until-he-cuts-opposing-players-down-to-size

That sounds like a “walked uphill both ways” kind of thinng.

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If Malcom is the LB version of Bob Sanders I’ll be very, very happy.

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That’s pretty close to the scouting report from Athletic a month or so ago, that he has very little room for error and that things he did effectively in college will fail in the NFL

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HOF’er Bobby Wagner is 6’ 0", only 1" taller than Malcom – and believe me, being a champion wrestler will help him too. Could be on the field quite a bit. We know already that he hits like Bobby. Loudest pops in camp are his. But Athletic is right, he is going to have to play just about perfectly for this to work.

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Champion wrestler and high school QB who led his team to 3 straight state Championships with 115 touchdowns on 6,144 passing yards and 2,449 rushing yards.

Then he played 3 years of safety @OSU before switching to linebacker in his 4th year of college. He’s only played linebacker for 2 years and is already better than most our veteran linebackers.

And yes he played baseball. “Rodriguez capped this spring by making All-Phoenix as a reliever, with 10 saves in 11 relief appearances and a 2.19 ERA while hitting a team-leading .438”

Pass the koolaid. What can’t this guy do!? He might be the Jack Fox of linebackers.

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Mike Singletary was only 5’11 225 when he was drafted. I don’t know how long his arms were though.

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I’m not sure if comparisons between players who played 40 years apart have much meaning. Offensive linemen were 50lb lighter when Singletary played than today.

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Fair enough, but you could make the same argument of the Sam Mills comp, London Fletcher, Zach Thomas, etc… Those were different eras too. Not as old as Singletary, but he and Mills overlapped. And if anything LBs are getting smaller today than they used to be.

Maybe we can let the Tigers use him in the football off-season

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Okay. Sure. There will always be outliers. More broadly I will claim that relying on outliers as comps isn’t very promising.

If Rodriguez succeeds it won’t be because London Fletcher had 26" arms.

It depends on how he plays. If he’s smart and not reckless he could play mike for a long time. Sam mills, Zach Thomas, and London fletcher all had very long careers playing middle linebacker. They did it in a more run heavy era too. Rodriguez just needs to realize not every play requires him to be a human wrecking ball. Pick and choose your spots and don’t take 330lb lineman head up on every play.

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I cant wait for some action against another team so we can see how much hype may be legitimate for these guys.

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Next Friday vs the Falcons! Live on nfl network @ 6pm.

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I think putting MR with the ones is kind of camp psyche. They’re giving him confidence at the same time as putting the vets on notice that they’re spot isn’t safe.

But I honestly think he’ll start on special teams, get a couple sub packages on defense as the year goes on and that’ll be it for his rookie year. Which is a fine rookie year for a 6th rounder.

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I agree but if he does get thrown out there as a starter as a 6th round pick, and isnt a straight liability that would be incredible drafting by BH

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C

He is talented and his instincts are great. But like it’s been written he is small and his arms are short so he is gonna struggle to wrap up and get leverage on the bigger backs….doesn’t mean he can’t be good…….I’m excited to see what he does………but trying to have a leveled headed expectation.

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