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DRAFT: CJ Allen or Jacob Rodriguez | Best Linebacker OPTION At No. 20 For Dallas Cowboys?
00:27:12
The Dallas Cowboys eye a linebacker transformation—could Jacob Rodriguez or CJ Allen be the answer at pick 20? With intriguing draft options and free agency looming, the team's strategy sparks debate about athleticism, coverage skills, and scheme fit. Is the old-school Mike linebacker making a comeback, or will a versatile, instinctual playmaker rise to the occasion?
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- [00:01]
A
The Dallas Cowboys are in the market for a linebacker. We'll tell you three options that they might be able to get from picks 20 on next. You are Locked On Cowboys, your daily Dallas Cowboys podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast network. Your team every day. Welcome back to the Locked on Cowboys podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast network. Your team every day. We'd like to thank you for making us the number one sports podcast network. And today's episode is brought to you by Game time. Download the GameTime app, create an account and use promo code locked on for $20 off your first purchase. Welcome back. I am your host Marcus Moser. He is Landon McCool. And on today's show, we're taking a look at the top non sunny styles linebackers in the 2026 NFL Draft. Because L you and I both know their Cowboys are in the linebacker market. We expect them to be aggressive in free agency. But this is also a really deep linebacker class and there's talent galore. And I want to start with C.J. allen. And it's not, it's not hard to draw some of the connections that the Cowboys have with C.J. allen. He's been mocked to Dallas in several mock drafts at pick number 20. What did you see from Allen when you put on the tape?
- [01:29]
B
Not what I expected to see, I'll put it that way. Right. Like he's, he's a kind of a, an undersized linebacker, I think, in the grand scheme of things. But he's got decent length, he's got big hands, he's well proportioned. He could probably gain to, you know, add some muscle mass in his lower half, it feels like. But again, like the brain of a Georgia defense that is very similar to what the key would be playing in Dallas. You know, Georgia runs that kind of gap in the half scheme, a lot of mint tight stuff that the Cowboys are also going to be running. And he was the brain of that defense there. There's no way he's that kind of epitome of a mike linebacker, barking directions and, you know, smacking defensive linemen into the correct spots. And he plays like I said, just like with a, a mike mentality. Like, he plays, he's a C gap to C gap defender. Right. Despite not being very big, he is immediately ready to mix it up with interior offensive lineman and he will jolt them with the strike. And I think that's what I meant by most, by not what I expected is I expected a. This guy that is six two, six one, 230 pounds with 31 and a half inch arms to be, you know, and a Georgia linebacker. Right. Like to be this uber athletic will linebacker type who is a between this sideline to sideline defender. And that isn't quite what this guy is. He is a downhill striker is just in the body of a, of a will linebacker. He is. He's got great strike accuracy to go with his great hand strength. He consistently gets into much longer offensive lineman's chest and can jolt a man who weighs a hundred pounds more than him backwards. He sorts through the trash well. He uses his feet to subtly dodge contact while working his way to the ball carry. You see that consistently he's ducking and dodging direct contact from, from blockers. He doesn't quite have the long speed of a top end sideline to sideline athlete. Like I said, doesn't play slow necessarily, but he just doesn't have that sixth gear to kick into to kind of a race and angle. When he's getting a fast player like on a jet sweep and the guy's got an angle to the corner, he's not going to necessarily beat their fastest guy to the sideline. Right. Doesn't take a lot of false steps versus play action though. He, he's slow plays on the snap and part of that is the scheme that he plays in. But part of it I think is that he's understands how to kind of read and then react and not necessarily over adjust on play action, that sort of thing. Very solid tackler. Gets his body ready for contact, wraps up the rest of the ball carrier with consistent technique. And that's kind of what you're looking for. You don't, you just, you just don't want to see a guy who's constantly striking in different areas and not getting his arms wrapped around all the time. His, his tackle technique is very consistent power.
- [04:24]
A
I say there's some legitimate power to his game that frankly the cabins haven't had that linebacker in a while now.
- [04:31]
B
Yeah. And honestly I think the power in his hands and his arms is specifically why I think he's a first round pick. Because you just. These guys are a little bit rare nowadays. I mean everybody's kind of a running hit linebacker nowadays because that's sort of where the, the game is trending. But he can do the run and hit stuff. But on top of that he is very good at taking on blocks and, and, and hitting ball carriers in the hole and jolting the ball loose and in that sort of way real quick just to finish up. He's got very Clean footwork, dropping into his own. I. I'd be a little wary about him playing a ton of man coverage with shiftier backs, but he could definitely get into a zone and is comfortable doing that. Where does he win? He's an old school Mike linebacker and a new school will linebacker body unanswered questions Will he be a liability in like more advanced coverages that are going to require him to, to cover a, a court like a running back on a wheel route up the field? Feel that sort of.
- [05:25]
A
Sure. And he is very young. He's 21 years old. He played in a complex defense. They basically gave him the reins and he called everything. So there's a lot to like you kind of at the very end you were talking about the coverage stuff and that's what concerns me. Like there is some legitimate bad coverage reps from him on tape and it's only going to get worse in the NFL. That doesn't mean that he's not a useful player. But you also find these type of linebackers in free agency every year that cost you like 6 or 7 million. I'm not opposed to drafting CJ Allen, but I feel like the skill set, while it is somewhat rare to find it does feel replaceable. Like you can get Robert Spillanes fairly easily and it doesn't cost you an arm and light to get them.
- [06:16]
B
I, I think I'm gonna push back a little bit because I, I think we agree on the player. I, I think that finding this kind of player who can do what Robert Spillane, I think he's a little bit better in coverage than that to the point where I don't know that he's a huge liability. And I think that's where I, I think I see value with him.
- [06:35]
A
I, I see him as somebody that drops into zone coverage, but I mean anytime. My issue is anytime that he's running laterally is when I think he gets in trouble.
- [06:46]
B
I, I think that's fair. He certainly is better coming downhill. But I also think finding these types of guys is, has, have they basically been hunt to extinction at this point, you know, and so I, I think he is the rare combination of good enough in coverage while being at as top end as you can get nowadays at taking on blocks, getting downhill, defeating blocks and being a true Mike linebacker.
- [07:12]
A
Again. I, I don't want it to sound like I'm dogging out CGL because he's a good player, but the, the way, again, this might be a mistake for me. You tell me if I'm wrong. I have this really jaded view of viewing linebackers in the sense of like, is this a guy that Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVeigh would pick on relentlessly in coverage? Right. Because we've seen them do that before. They target your least athletic linebacker and they just spam plays over and over and over to take advantage of that. Would you be concerned about Allen that way?
- [07:43]
B
No, because a. I think he is good about, like I said, being very deliberate before pulling the trigger. And I think that's actually what kind of makes him look slower at times, is that he is intentionally not pulling the trigger, maybe as quickly as to make sure he's correct before he's going. And again, I think also part of what we're seeing is him playing the gap in the half scheme. Right. And the gap in the half scheme naturally makes you have to be wary of the backside gap from where the play is going. So when play action is happening, you can't just run to the, to the spot like you're. The rules are telling you you can't. You have to be accountable for the backside of the gap and that naturally helps you slow play play action. And I kind of gives you an answer there. So the answer to your question is in a normal scheme, would I be worried about this? Yes, I think I might be a little bit worried about him being susceptible.
- [08:39]
A
But.
- [08:39]
B
But in this scheme, I think he's set up to very well play play action because he's fitting inside of a system that allows him to slow play runs and thereby not get fooled by play action as often.
- [08:51]
A
Well, let me ask you this. He again, we've seen him in a ton of mocks to the Cowboys at 20. If that was the pick, how would you feel?
- [08:59]
B
I think it's a good pick. It's not my preferred pick necessarily at 20, but again, like we've talked about this, there are a lot of good options at 20. I put him in that list of guys where if that's the pick at 20, I feel solid about it. I think he's worthy of being a first round pick even if he isn't as good in coverage as you would normally think about being a first round pick. I think the benefits that he provides, especially as the game starts to turn around towards the running game a little bit, balance that out enough that he is worthy of that pick at 20.
- [09:36]
A
A little nick Bolton, like from the Chiefs?
- [09:39]
B
Yeah, I think so. Yeah. And I think again, a guy like Nick Bolton drafted now probably goes a little bit higher. It is a little Bit more valued because of the way the game is being played versus when he got drafted.
- [09:50]
A
All right, let's talk about another linebacker that had all the production in the world at Texas Tech, and that's Jacob Rodriguez. Where do we slot him? Talk about him next. This episode is brought to you by. Game Time. We live in a world where you can stream anything, order food in minutes, and we carry supercomputers in our pockets. And somehow buying tickets to live events and games still feels complicated. Hidden fees, jumping prices, endless steps. There has to be a better way. And there is. And that's why I use the Game Time app. It gives the advantage back to the fans, and it makes getting tickets simple, whether it's NFL games, concerts, comedy events, whatever you're into. I was just looking at the app a couple days ago. Wanted to go to a hockey game. It's unbelievable how easy it is to get tickets. Two taps and you have great seats locked in. Fast, easy and done. But my favorite part, my favorite feature is that you're going to see all of the fees included. So you're not surprised by anything at checkout. It just makes the entire process that much easier. So take the guesswork out of buying Tickets. Download the GameTime app, create an account and use promo code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase terms apply. Again, create an account, redeem promo code lockedon for $20 off and download game Time today. Foreign. Cowboys podcast. We'd like to thank you for making us your first listen every single day. Free agency is here and so are we. So head over to LockedOn cowboys.supercast.com to join the club or we're gonna be, we're gonna be chatting about free agency for the next couple weeks. Use promo code free agency, all one word, no spaces, to get a free agency month of the Every dare club. Again, that is locked on cowboys.supercast.com all right, Lena, let's talk about Jacob Rodriguez, a very intriguing linebacker prospect who actually finished fifth in the Heisman voting this year. What did you see from Rodriguez on tape?
- [12:01]
B
Yeah, somebody's gonna need to explain this to me. Let's get into it. Because slightly below average size linebacker. I mean, generally speaking, he's, you know, similarly sized. Honestly, to CJ Allen, which was.
- [12:14]
A
I, I thought he's actually taller than C.J. allen is. Yes.
- [12:17]
B
Which is, which is still wild. Right. And, and, and, but, but a little bit shorter. Like not as, not shorter, not as long. Right. Arms are under 31 inch. Or they're 37. 30 and 7. Eighths right. You know, came into the combine and I think really showed you a level of athleticism that kind of shocked some, some people. Right. And, and certainly, you know, it made me interested to kind of go back and watch the, the tape again after having formed an impression of him just watching college football near the end of the year. Right. I mean he ran a 6, 93 cone, right. And that's pretty elite. And, and, and I think if you watch him in the later part of the season, you don't necessarily like feel like you see that, but I think what you do see is ridiculous production. Ridiculous production. I mean the guy for seven forced fumbles, had four interceptions, 11 tackles for a loss, two defensive touch touchdowns. He won the Nagursky and the Bernick and he's an all American and he's a Heisman finalist. He's a linebacker. Guys like it's, that's ridiculous. He had. We talked about stops before. It's a PFF stat. It's one of my favorites. It constitutes, it's a tackle that's made by the player that constitutes as a success loss for the, for the offense. Right. It's a non successful play. We talked about success rate as well. I love stops. I think it's a great indicator of, of, of defensive playmaking. He had 70 stops last year and to get to put that into context, we're going to talk about two. We've already talked about C.J. allen, we're going to talk about Anthony Hill from Texas next. He had more stops in 2025 than those two players who are being drafted in the first two rounds this year combined. Like this guy was incredibly productive player. I think that's. That much is good is clear. What was surprising to me is turning on the tape, especially early in the season and, and seeing an athlete that I couldn't believe because the expectation is that, oh well, he's this guy that's going to like, you know, he's got all this production but he's probably going to be a mid round pick. And if you turn on the late round tape, he moves pretty well. Looks like he looks good but man, I feel like I turned on some of the early season tape and he's an easy mover. He's comfortable in space, he can step out in the slot if he needs to be. He's bouncy, he's got bursty energy, he operates well when he's engaging with offensive linemen. He's, you know, we know I've seen him already been. Be instinctual and quick on his feet. But, like, the explosiveness that he had early in the season was really, really kind of surprising.
- [15:05]
A
Yeah, go on that a little bit more because I'm with you. Like, he is. He's got natural football instincts, but if I were to say a knock on him, you can tell that he's somewhat new to the linebacker position because there are times that he, like, takes missteps, but he just. This is how he's around the football at all time. It's. It's almost the best compliment that I can ever give a player is that you're just a football player. And that's what Rodriguez is to me. I think as he progresses as a player, you'll see. You'll see fewer coverage bust, you'll see fewer missteps. But you do see those on tape occasionally.
- [15:40]
B
Yeah, he. And he misses too many tackles. Like, the. It is all the things that a young linebacker probably is just learning his way through. Right. But the fact is, is that he's producing at such a ridiculous level while learning on the job that it's absolutely outrageous. And. And it's not just, you know, coincidental at this point. Like, it's clearly like. And you watch him do incredible things. Like it. That's the thing. I felt like I was. I. My anticipation was that I was going to go in there and watch him be, you know, a cleanup guy for all the stuff that you're seeing David Bailey do, you know, like. But that wasn't the case. Like, this is a guy who's, you know, stepping in front of the ball to intercept it, running it back, and then hurdling an offensive player and spit like he's. He's an incredible athlete at the position as well. So I, Yeah, I think this is a situation where, you know, he came into college football as a. As a quarterback, was clearly needed to change positions and. And I think he just was overlooked. And then as time went on and he finally got to the last few years of his season, he was incredibly productive at this point. So, yeah, I think he's a guy that. I'm not sure if. If he had something nagging. This is my last note. Not sure if he had something nagging. Some reports said he might have had an injury post Houston game, but it does definitely noticeable between the early and late season. I think the tape is. Where does he win? He's just like, exceptional, like at. Not exceptional. He's above average in almost every area. There's some stuff that he needs to kind of clean up as he gets more Used to playing football, but he doesn't have like a defined weakness. He can blitz, he can cover, he can play the run. Unanswered questions. You know, I guess my question is why aren't people talking about this guy more? That's, that's my thing. I, I really was shocked by couple things.
- [17:33]
A
Couple things. I think, I think the Pro Football Focus mock draft simulator screws people up a little bit because he's been in like the 90s or the 100 range for a while and everybody just throws him into their third or fourth rounder and they don't think about him as a, an elite prospect all of a sudden. I looked at today and he's got, I think he's like 40th on PFS board. He's like 32 on the consensus board. It's like people are starting to catch up a little bit. But also I think this is why players should try to do everything possible, you know, during the draft process. Because we went into the Senior bowl having some concerns about his coverage ability.
- [18:07]
B
Absolutely.
- [18:08]
A
Shut up. All those. Right. Right away during the one on one drills we had some concerns about the athleticism, goes out there and has a fantastic combine performance. And now we're talking about a guy that was viewed at least by the consensus as a third round pick to somebody that might be like a low end first round pick or top of the second round pick because he's nailed the pre draft process. I think you can tell I'm a big fan. He does have some warts. He's going to be 24 during his rookie season. He's not particularly long, he's not particularly big, but he just makes every single dog on play.
- [18:42]
B
Yeah, he's just constantly around the football. He has a, a high level of football IQ which is informing his instincts and, and you could see that in his play. Yeah. Again, you and I spent about 15 minutes, 20 minutes on a phone call after I was done with him and I, I, I was beside myself. I cannot get over that this guy isn't higher, more higher ranked or he talked about more highly.
- [19:04]
A
He reminds me. So he's, he's older, but he reminds me so much of Carson swinger who went at the top of the second round last year, who was another one of these kind of somewhat undersized linebackers that just made every play. Schinger landed in Cleveland, ended up becoming the defensive rookie of the year. I will not be shocked if we see something similar with Rodriguez because he's just a baller man.
- [19:26]
B
Schlesinger also another player who was very young at the position when he got drafted.
- [19:31]
A
Yep.
- [19:32]
B
I, I, you know, I see a lot of similarities there.
- [19:34]
A
Yeah. All right, let's talk about Anthony Hill, one of the more intriguing prospects in this class. I know there's a lot of Texas fans that want the Cowboys to draft them. Does he fit Christian Parker's defense? We'll get to that next. This episode is brought to you by TurboTax. It's tax time, but for a lot of us, the old ways of doing taxes is a lot trying to book appointments that's not the most convenient. Sitting in a waiting room with a stack of papers emailing back and forth and wondering if they really get your situation. But this year you're getting a major upgrade with Intuit TurboTax, which now has in person locations you can meet face to face with a real tax expert and your documents get uploaded straight to your TurboTax app on the spot. And, and just like that, you're done. Your TurboTax expert works to get you every dollar that you deserve while you get real time notifications as you go about your day. It's the relief of walking in and meeting with a real person who you know is going to take care of your taxes and get you every dollar possible. So head over to turbotax.com local to find a store near you and book your appointment today. Foreign welcome back to the Lawton Cowboys podcast. We'd like to thank you for making us your first listen every single day. Let's talk about Anthony Hill because this was a player that has a wide range of opinions. I'll say that a lot of people think he could be a first round linebacker. I've seen other people have him on day three. What do you think?
- [21:10]
B
Yeah, you know, this is the kind of typical Texas, you know, player. You and I were talking about this a little bit where you know, he was a five star, he was the 17th overall prospect in the 2023 draft. And you know, he's, he looks like the part out of central casting, right. He's you know, six two, 240 pounds. He's got 32 and three eight, basically 32 and a half inch arms. Right. And, and he's physical. He's a point and shoot linebacker. He's a freight train coming downhill. He's especially as a blitzer when he's given a specific assignment or asked to be assertive or aggressive, he is a real asset and a plus player. But when he's asked to react and follow keys in the Run. It appears he kind of struggles a little bit and I think it might be an eye discipline issue, which is fixable. But he's very quick to trigger and I mean that both in a positive and a negative way. He's comfy in zone drop. He's good in coverage, I think because he's, he's athletic and he's a good, good tackle. He's a solid tackler. But I think, I think the reason that you're going to see such wide, you know, opinions about him is that he's not going to be a great fit for every scheme.
- [22:25]
A
No.
- [22:26]
B
Right.
- [22:26]
A
He's not. No.
- [22:28]
B
But having said that, I think he is a good fit for this scheme. I don't know that I'm gonna take him if I'm like looking forward to taking him in the first round or at 20 necessarily. But if the Cowboys were to trade back and they get a second round pick, I certainly wouldn't be opposed to him Where, I'm sorry, where does he win? He's an attacking downhill linebacker. Unanswered questions. Can you improve his ability to read his keys by just, you know, giving him a little bit further instruction? And, and that's kind of, that's what I meant by this is felt like a real Texas player is that this is a guy that is incredible athlete. You see it all there, you see all the pieces. But like he doesn't quite do the football part always so well unless you give him a specific assignment and then he's really good. Then like if you're asking him to blitz through an A gap, he's aggressive, he's fast, he's big and strong and, and he could take down the quarterback. If you're asking him to, you know, read and react while being a will linebacker off the ball in the 4 3, he may struggle a little bit.
- [23:32]
A
So it's. Again, there's. Whenever you're scouting players, there's always going to be some biases that affect you. Right. And maybe it's the Kenneth Murray biases of what happened last year in watching that player at Oklahoma. But there's a lot of similarities, good and bad. Like Kenneth Murray is a special athlete. Anthony Hill's an awesome too. Right. I think, I think Hill can be a much better version of this player. I think Hill is actually, I think he's what everybody wanted Kenneth Walker. Kenneth Walker, Kenneth Murray to be. My problem is I just, I have a really hard time with these high cut linebackers that kind of have to go straight downhill and that aren't the most fluid. I would rather give up a little bit of speed for the guys that can move sideline to sideline really well. And I just. I just don't think he's got that part to his game. And for me, that limits you a little bit what you can do in coverage.
- [24:30]
B
I think I. I think we need to start adjusting our sight on this a little bit though, and I'm speaking for all of Cowboy nation here, not just Marcus and I, because as you start to get into a system where you have wide edge players, where you've got star players that are expected to be contributors, major contributors to the run, the need for the sideline to sideline running back versus the more downhill linebacker, it shifts. It's not that it's not important and it's not that it shouldn't be ignored, but I think it's more okay for the Cowboys to look at players like this than it has been previously because they aren't necessarily going to be asked to have to cover a bunch of ground in order to cover all the way through. Things are going to be spilled back inside a lot more and it's more about making sure that they cover this gap and then half the gap back there and that they're able to be physical when they need to. Because here's the thing, they're going to blitz a lot and they need guys who are good at blitzing, who can be a faction, a part of this pass rushing group. So that's an important aspect of this as well.
- [25:39]
A
I don't disagree. I think the thing that concerns me is there was a lot of talk about Anthony Hill going into the year and he didn't really improve at all. Like, he really leveled off and I think there were a lot of games you just didn't notice him at all where you turn on the, you know, the Jacob Rodriguez tape and it's impossible to ignore him. So. But I see them ranked very similarly. So for you, if you had to stack Allen, Rodriguez, Hill, how would you do it?
- [26:04]
B
I mean, I think it's Rodriguez and then a little gap and then Al and Rodriguez and Allen are probably pretty close. But. But yeah, Hill is. Is a tier or two tier and a half at least down on there. I would say a mid second, late second, third pick is. Was what I would say with him, a perfectly a starting linebacker, a guy who could be a plus plus player for your defense, but not someone who I'm gonna expect to be an all Pro Pro Bowler type guy anytime soon.
- [26:34]
A
All right, that is it for today's show, we'd like to thank you for making us your first listen every single day. If you never miss an episode, the everyday club is built for you. Get locked on Cowboys ad free members only, discord access and so much more. Head over to LockedOn Cowboys Supercast.com to join the club. And for those of you on video, we can send you the first ever 24. 7 national NBA YouTube channel and on on audio, make your second listen the Locked on NFL Draft podcast. Follow Landon on Twitter acoolbcb. I'm at Marcus Underscore Mosher and we'll see you right back here on Monday.