(S1) - PT #1 - Draft Profile

[BenderRodriguez]

Hometown hero Bender Rodriguez was a five-star recruit at Temple following a high school career speckled with controversy. As a freshman at Bending Technical School, he led the Technicians to three blowout victories against Saint Michael's Academy, Timberton Friends School, and bitter rivals Angler Vocational School. A dominant force at running back, opponents simply found it nearly impossible to take him down. In each of these games, he racked up at least 155 yards on the ground, with a high of 215 yards and 3 TDs in his final game. Unfortunately, he was deemed ineligible to play the remainder of his freshman year due to breaking the school's alcohol policy.

Bender was outed when a member of the coaching staff at Angler VS spotted him at dive bar he frequented. The anonymous coach caught him on his phone's camera holding two pitchers of Yuengling and telling another patron to "Bite my shiny metal ass."

After being reinstated his sophomore year, Bender managed to stay out of trouble, though some doubt he'd changed his consumption habits.

Temple took a chance on his undeniable talent as a player and moved him to RT to better fit his athletic profile. While at Temple, he proved to be a dynamic and powerful force on the line. However, his inability to stay out of trouble would continue to haunt him. He received a 2 game suspension after he was discovered passed out on the football field the morning of practice next to a pile of obviously shotgunned cans of Natural Ice. He claimed he was "just trying to be the first one to practice for once," but the coaching staff wasn't having it. His true Junior year (and his most recent year), he was yet again found guilty of alcohol abuse when he showed up to practice inebriated and fell asleep during team stretches. The latter case landed him a 4 game suspension; it should have been more but the school neglected to provide a breathalyzer test after the incident.

Strengths: NFL size and strength. Has plus speed for OL. Will not lose a hand-battle at the line. Side to side movement is quick and rarely gets beat on the perimeter. Unstoppable on the second level - pancakes smaller LBs and DBs with ease.

Weaknesses: Some of his size is flab - has room to develop muscle. Footwork needs adjustments - can get beat by technically sound edge rushers. Susceptible to inside spin move. Serious concerns about alcoholism may cause him to slip.