Story Poster
Photo by Pat Kinnison - Chief Photographer
Oklahoma State Football

Malcolm Rodriguez Leads the Nation in Tackles, Obvious Difference Maker For Cowboys

September 14, 2021
1,868

STILLWATER – While the first two games of the season for Oklahoma State have been much closer than anyone would like, the defense has been just as demonstrative as we thought they’d be going into the 2021 season.

“We’ve got a lot of talented guys that have bought in,” senior safety Kolby Harvell-Peel said of the defensive unit. “We’ve got old heads on the outside: [Christian Holmes] is an old head, Jarrick [Bernard-Converse’s] an old head. The whole back end is seniors. Have y’all seen our front seven going nuts? Well, I guess we don’t play a front seven, we play a front six, but it’s just easy to play in the back end; we’ve got dogs up front, young guys contributing now like Collin Oliver, have y’all seen him? He’s a dog. So, just mingling guys that have been here that know the system and have talent with all this young talent [the coaches] have brought in, that’s picking it up quickly, it makes it a lot of fun to go play and it makes it to where we can make a lot of plays.”

A name Larry Reece, and various other stadium announcers across the country have called a significant time over the years has been linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez. An integral part to Jim Knowles’ defense the past couple of years, while it might seem hard to believe, Rodriguez has stepped his game up even more in 2021.

The super senior out of Wagoner, OK, currently leads the FBS in both solo and total tackles through the first two games of the season. He’s sitting at 29 total tackles and 18 solo tackles, an average of 14.5 per game.

Malcolm is a name Harvell-Peel didn’t mention, but when asked about him, Kolby was quick to correct himself.

“And I play on the same side as him, he grabs everything,” Harvell-Peel said of Rodriguez. “Selfishly, I want to make a couple more plays, but he’s just grabbing everybody: everybody that runs through gaps, he be hip-tossing linemen. I don’t know what makes Malcolm so great, it might just be intangible, he’s smart, I know that’s a big part of it, he’s smart, he’s a great tackler. He just makes my job so much easier. Like I said, I just can’t believe I didn’t bring up Malcolm. Y’all see him every Saturday, and he’s been doing it for a while. He’s tough as hell, so I really appreciate Malc and he’s a great player.”

Through the first four years of his career, Rodriguez has racked up 279 total tackles, 178 of which have been solo stops. There’s no question as to his impact on the field the past couple of years, with 2021 being no difference.

“I think Malcolm’s doing a good job, I mean he outplayed me in the game and had more tackles than me. I mean, I was trying to fight him on the scoreboard, but I feel like he’s doing a phenomenal job,” defensive end Tyler Lacy said jokingly. “I really give props to Malcolm Rodriguez because he’s all over the field doing everything he needs to do; he’s in there watching film, chopping it up with coach [Jim] Knowles and trying to figure out the defense. He’s a well-rounded player.”

I honestly don’t think it’s a stretch to say Malcolm Rodriguez is the best linebacker in the Big 12, and easily one of the best across all of college football.

 
×
subscribe Verify your student status
See Subscription Benefits
Trial only available to users who have never subscribed or participated in a previous trial.