Patrick Mahomes put up gaudy numbers during his time at Texas Tech, but he never received a vote for the Heisman Trophy. No Red Raider has ever won college football’s biggest award, and you have to go back to 2008 to find any of the program’s stars who received a vote. That year, Graham Harrell finished fourth behind Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow, earning 13 first-place votes. His top receiver Michael Crabtree finished fifth.
Texas Tech has a solid offense in 2025, but it is the defense that has truly made Joey McGuire’s team a College Football Playoff contender. David Bailey entered the week leading the FBS in sacks with 11.5, Romello Height has six sacks of his own and cornerback Brice Pollock is one of the Big 12’s top ballhawks with four picks. But it is linebacker Jacob Rodriguez who is the heart and soul of the defense, and Mahomes wants to see him as a Heisman finalist.
Following a 29–7 statement win over previously undefeated BYU, Mahomes was ready to amplify the growing calls from Lubbock for Rodriguez to suit up and head to New York in a few weeks.
Get him to New York! @HeismanTrophy https://t.co/KGk6Gs0Lgy
— Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes) November 8, 2025
It was another standout week for Rodriguez, as the stats above show. On the year he now has 91 total tackles (9.5 for loss), three interceptions, a whopping seven forced fumbles, a pair of fumble recoveries and one touchdown which was scored off of a fumble recovery in the Red Raiders’ 42–0 win over Oklahoma State.
Entering Saturday, Rodriguez was the second-highest graded defensive player in the country, per Pro Football Focus.
The Heisman has largely become a quarterback award, with the occasional running back or very occasional wide receiver earning the honor. Last year shook things up as Travis Hunter—a two-way receiver and cornerback—broke through, but it was because of that historic versatility that he was able to upset the apple cart. The last defense-only player to make his way to New York for the ceremony was Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson in 2021, a distant second-place finisher to Alabama quarterback Bryce Young. Crimson Tide linebacker Will Anderson Jr. and Georgia defensive lineman Jordan Davis also earned votes that year, a unique one for the award.
Michigan star Charles Woodson became the first and only defense-first player to win the award in 1997. Even he was aided by a smaller role on the team’s offense and special teams as a dynamic punt returner.
The odds are against Rodriguez, with a quarterback like Ohio State’s Julian Sayin, Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza or Alabama’s Ty Simpson, likely to take home the award. However his school and coach have started to campaign for him, as has his wife Emma, a U.S. Army helicopter pilot who was profiled, along with Jacob, on College GameDay Saturday morning.
Rodriguez is staying humble with all of the attention he’s garnered over the last few weeks.
“Growing up, I wanted to win the Heisman as a quarterback, I had my thoughts of being in the conversation as a quarterback,” Rodriguez told the The Dallas Morning News. “Once I switched to linebacker, especially those earlier years, man, I was just trying to make the team.”
With Texas Tech sitting atop the Big 12, and in strong position to make its first run to the playoff, the wind may be at his back—even if he can’t quite believe it.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Patrick Mahomes Pushes for Texas Tech Defensive Star to Get Heisman Recognition.
