Oklahoma State University Athletics
2017 Football Roster
Roster
Malcolm Rodriguez
- Height:
- 6-0
- Weight:
- 205
- Class:
- Freshman
- Hometown:
- Wagoner, OK
- High School:
- Wagoner
2018 Honorable Mention All-Big 12 (Coaches)
2019 Second Team All-Big 12 (Coaches)
2019 OSU Leslie O’Neal Award (Defensive MVP)
2020 Second Team All-Big 12 (Coaches)
2020 Second Team Academic All-Big 12
2020 Team Captain as voted by teammates
2021 All-America First Team - ESPN, The Action Network
2021 All-America Second Team - Associated Press, AFCA, The Sporting News, FWAA, USA TODAY, CBS Sports, The Athletic, Phil Steele
2021 PlayStation Fiesta Bowl Defensive MVP
2021 Associated Press All-Bowl Team
2021 Butkus Award Semifinalist (one of 16)
2021 First Team All-Big 12 (Coaches & AP)
2021 First Team Academic All-Big 12
2021 Honorable Mention Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year (Coaches)
2021 Team Captian (voted by teammates)
Career Highs
Tackles
TFL
Pass Break Ups 2, vs. Notre Dame, 2021
Interceptions 1, twice, last vs. Notre Dame, 2021
Sacks
In five years in Stillwater, he began as a lightly-recruited high school athlete and became one of the best defensive players to ever play at Oklahoma State ... In his final season he earned All-America honors from nearly every organization that releases a team ... Became the fourth linebacker in Oklahoma State history to earn All-America honors, joining Cleveland Vann (1973), John Corker (1978) and Ricky Young (1981) ... Voted a team captain by his teammates in each of his final two seasons ... A three-time All-Big 12 pick and two-time Academic All-Big 12 pick who finished his career as the fourth player in OSU history and the first since 1982 to record more than 400 career tackles, finishing with 409 ... His eight career forced fumbles were the fifth-most in school history and his 48 career starts were tied for the third-most in school history ... Set an OSU career record with 60 games played, all of which were played consecutively ... When he wrapped up his career, he was among the leaders of all active FBS players in several career categories, including solo tackles (No. 3), total tackles (No. 5), solo tackles per game (No. 10), defensive touchdowns (No. 12) forced fumbles (No. 13) and assisted tackles (No. 19) ... Recorded at least six tackles in 40 of his 50 games played from 2018-21, ranking as the most such games among all FBS players during that timeframe ... Led the team in tackles in 2019, 2020 and 2021 to become the third player in school history to finish as the team’s leading tackler in three straight seasons, joining Mike Green (1980-82) and Jordan Sterns (2014-16) ... Began his time at Oklahoma State as a safety, but moved to linebacker prior to the 2019 season.
2021 (Super Senior): Earned first team All-America honors from ESPN and The Action Network ... Earned second team All-American honors from the Associated Press, the AFCA, The Sporting News, the FWAA, USA TODAY, CBS Sports, The Athletic and Phil Steele ... A semifinalist for the Butkus Award ... Voted a team captain by his teammates for the second straight season ... Earned first team All Big 12 honors from both the coaches and the AP ... First team Academic All-Big 12 honoree ... Finished with 130 tackles to lead the Big 12 and rank No. 6 among all FBS players ... His 76 solo stops also ranked No. 7 ... Finished in top 25 among all FBS player in total tackles, solo stops, tackles per game, solo tackles per game, fumbles forced and fumbles recovered ... His four forced fumbles tied for the fifth-most in a single season in OSU history ... His 10 quarterback hurries were the third-most in a season in school history ... Added to those numbers with 16.0 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks, an interception, two fumble recovered and five pass breakups ... Led the team in tackles in 10 of its 14 games on the year ... Recorded a career-best 15 tackles in season-opener against Missouri State ... Recorded more than 10 tackles in seven games and five or more in 13 games ... Named to the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl Defensive MVP and to the Associated Press All-Bowl Team after an impressive performance in the win over No. 5 Notre Dame ... Finished the day against the Fighting Irish with a game-high 11 tackles, two pass breakups, a quarterback hurry and late fourth-quarter interception in OSU territory to help preserve the two-point win ... Honored as the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week three times to lead all defensive players in conference ... Earned the distinction for his performances against Tulsa, Kansas State and Oklahoma ... With 13 total stops against the Golden Hurricane, he led all players in the game, added eight solo stops and recorded tackles on five of Tulsa’s first eight plays of the game ... Against K-State, he recovered a fumble and scored a touchdown in the first quarter, finished with six solo stops to lead the OSU defense, and was credited with a tackle for loss and a pair of quarterback hurries ... In win over the Sooners, he led the Cowboys’ defense with 11 total tackles to help the Sooner offense scoreless in the second half ... Sacked OU’s Caleb Williams twice in the game and recorded 3.0 tackles for loss, both of which marked single game career highs ... Also added a pass breakup on OU’s second-to-last drive of the game ... Received votes for the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Award from the league’s head coaches to earn honorable mention status for the distinction ... Served as a game captain vs. Missouri State, Kansas, Oklahoma, in the Big 12 Championship Game and against Notre Dame ... Earned OSU’s Defensive Player of the Week honor vs. Missouri State, Baylor, Texas and Oklahoma ... Named the AP Big 12 Defensive Player of the First Half of the Season ... Completed the year as the unquestioned leader of a defensive unit that finished the year among the FBS leaders in sacks (No. 1 with a school-record 57), tackles for loss (No. 2 with a school-record 114), third down defense (No. 4 at 28.8%), fourth down defense (No. 4 at 29.6%), rushing defense (No. 5 at a school record 87.6 yards per game), total defense (No. 5 at 297.9 yards per game), scoring defense (No. 9 at 18.1 points per game) and more.
2020 (Senior): A second-team All-Big 12 selection by the coaches for the second-straight year ... A second-team Academic All-Big 12 honoree ... Started every game at linebacker for the second straight season ... Voted as a team captain by his teammates ... Served as a game captain vs. Tulsa, Texas, Oklahoma and Miami ... Included on the preseason watch list for the Butkus Award ... His 58 solo tackles led all Power Five linebackers in 2020, ranked seventh among all FBS players and ranked first among all Big 12 players ... Led the team with 82 total tackles on the year, marking the second consecutive season he has led the team in total tackles ... Also added 7.0 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks, three pass breakups, five quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery ... Earned Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week and OSU’s Defensive Player of the Game for his performance in the season opening win over Tulsa, where he had a fourth quarter sack on fourth down with 2:01 remaining to seal the win for the Cowboys ... Finished that game with 10 tackles, nine solo stops, two quarterback hurries, 2.0 tackles for loss and 1.0 sack ... Earned OSU Defensive Player of the Game vs. Kansas State ... Recorded at least seven tackles in nine of OSU’s 11 games, including a season-high of 11 in the Bedlam game.
2019 (Junior): A second-team All-Big 12 selection by the coaches … Recipient of OSU’s Leslie O’Neal Award as MVP of the defense … Enjoyed a great season as he led the team and ranked fourth in the Big 12 with 103 tackles ... A contributor in several other areas as well, notching 7.0 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, four quarterback hurries, three pass breakups, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery ... With the score tied at 27 and less than seven minutes remaining, Rodriguez made one of the most memorable plays of the season when he intercepted a pass and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown to give the Cowboys a 34-27 win at No. 23 Iowa State ... Also had a game-high 11 tackles and a pass breakup in that contest and was recognized as Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts against the Cyclones ... Forced and recovered a fumble against Baylor ... Turned in four games with 11 tackles - vs. Oklahoma, Iowa State, Tulsa and McNeese ... Chosen as OSU’s defensive MVP from the Oregon State game after posting nine tackles and a quarterback hurry against the Beavers ... Served as a game captain against Oregon State, McNeese, Kansas State, Iowa State and TCU ... A leading performer on an Oklahoma State defense that made significant improvement from the previous season ... In 2018, the Cowboys allowed an average of 32.5 points and 452.5 yards per game, but in 2019, those numbers improved to 26.8 points per game and 412.3 yards per game ... The Cowboys of 2019 held each of their final six opponents below their season scoring average.
2018 (Sophomore): Played in all 13 games, starting 10 ... The team’s second-leading tackler with 83 stops, 53 of which were unassisted ... Added five tackles for loss, a pass breakup, a quarterback hurry and a forced fumble ... Set career highs with 12 tackles in the Bedlam game and 2.5 tackles for loss in the Cowboys’ win over No. 7 West Virginia ... Had 11 tackles in the Cowboys’ win over No. 6 Texas and also in OSU’s win over No. 17 Boise State ... Posted a third 11-tackle performance against Baylor ... Forced a fumble that was recovered by Brock Martin deep in OSU territory against West Virginia that provided a massive swing in momentum in the Cowboys’ favor ... Credited with three tackles and a tackle for loss in OSU’s Liberty Bowl win over No. 23 Missouri before being forced out of the game to injury ... Had a tackle for loss against South Alabama and assisted on a tackle for loss against TCU ... A contributor on special teams who recorded two tackles in punt coverage ... Served as a game captain against Texas ... Helped the Cowboys rank in the top 20 nationally in sacks, tackles for loss and red zone defense.
2017 (Freshman): Saw action in the last nine games of the season, primarily on special teams ... Recorded 11 total tackles with eight solo stops ... All 11 of his tackles came on special teams - a total that tied for the team lead despite the fact that he didn’t play in the first four games of the season ... Eight of those tackles came on kickoffs - a mark that ranked second on the team ... Finished with a season-high three tackles in OSU’s wins at Iowa State and against Virginia Tech.
High School: Played for coach Dale Condict at Wagoner, guiding the Bulldogs to three straight state championships in his three years as a starting quarterback … Didn’t lose a game during his junior and senior seasons, winning his last 37 games as Wagoner’s quarterback … Accounted for 115 touchdowns over three seasons while passing for 6,144 yards and rushing for 2,449 … As a defensive back, he recorded seven interceptions and 238 tackles in his career … Put up especially large numbers as a senior, accounting for 3,667 yards and 43 touchdowns while completing 115-of-172 passes (67 percent) for 1,976 yards and 22 touchdowns and rushing 162 times for 1,691 yards and 21 touchdowns … Rushed for 300 yards against Cascia Hall in the state semifinals and had 79 tackles and four takeaways on defense in his last season … 2016 All-Phoenix MVP by the Muskogee Daily Phoenix … An all-state selection and The Oklahoman’s 2016 All-State Defensive Player of the Year … One of the five finalists for the Tulsa World Offensive Player of the Year and a first team Tulsa World player at defensive back … Also a state champion wrestler with a 30-3 record and an outstanding baseball player … A Wendy’s Heisman State finalist … Honored on superintendent’s honor roll and as the Rotary student of the month in August of his senior year … Was actively involved with Spanish club, FCA, prom committee, National Honor Society and was the class vice president his junior and senior years … Also held a scholarship offer from Wyoming.
Personal: Malcolm Luciano Rodriguez was born March 29, 1999, in Tahlequah, Okla. … Son of Roman and Shanna Rodriguez … His brother, Roman Rodriguez, played football at Northeastern State University … Agricultural Communications major.
