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Draftanomics
Prospect dossier

Tony Rojas

LB · Penn State · 2027 NFL Draft class

Public Draft Board rank #94·5 contributing sources·Board as of August 31, 2026
Draftanomics scouting
Revised preseason edition · August 31, 20264 min readReport role: LB · Penn State

Master scouting report

Rojas offers the range and comfort in space to make a linebacker assignment less restrictive for the rest of the defense. His coverage work and willingness to engage the run give that athletic appeal a football purpose. The next evaluation must establish how those qualities hold up after his interrupted 2025 season, with tackling finish and a dependable return both central to the role.

By Draftanomics · Sources & edition · Print report

01A fuller season and an interrupted one

Penn State records 16 starts, 58 tackles, six tackles for loss, one sack, three interceptions and four pass breakups for Rojas in 2024. He then started four games in 2025, recording 25 tackles, 4.5 for loss, and two sacks. The longer season establishes experience across a substantial workload, while the shorter one shows promising activity without supplying an equivalent sample. The full season included plays on the ball as well as work around the line, giving his coverage appeal a productive college foundation. The return now brings an opportunity to put those responsibilities together over another sustained season.

02Range that serves the coverage

Rojas moves smoothly in zone, reads the quarterback and uses his position to disrupt passing lanes in Campbell's evaluation. He also identifies the ability to handle tight ends in man coverage, giving the defense a reason to keep Rojas involved when the offense changes the matchup. Mike Renner's assessment supports the broader appeal of his range and comfort around the ball. For an NFL role, that combination creates the possibility of a linebacker who helps preserve coverage options without requiring a personnel change whenever a receiving threat appears. The value lies in getting to a useful position under control and remaining part of the play, rather than simply covering ground quickly.

03Get there, engage, finish

Campbell describes prompt run reactions, pursuit through traffic and a willingness to shed blocks rather than avoid them. That is an important foundation for a space-capable linebacker: he still has to work through the bodies between his starting point and the runner. The same evaluation raises a more specific concern about stopping strength and tackles that arrive too high. The improvement target is therefore the finish after the approach, with secure contact turning useful range into a completed defensive play. Andrew Harbaugh also values the decisive, explosive style, while offering a more reserved overall assessment than the most enthusiastic view of Rojas's tools.

04Speed with a defined job

Harbaugh identifies promise in both pressure work and coverage, supporting a role that can change the offense's picture before the snap. A linebacker who can be assigned to either job gives the coordinator more options, but the individual assignment still has to be executed with discipline. In Chase Fisher's June reporting, Rojas described his enthusiasm for D'Anton Lynn's aggressive defense and the prospect of playing downhill and blitzing. That preference fits a role built around fast, purposeful entries into the action. His pressure role should build from the burst and decisiveness already described, with more complicated responsibilities earned as the execution becomes dependable.

05Keep the return question specific

Fisher reported that a torn ACL sustained in a late-September 2025 practice ended Rojas's season and that he missed spring drills while rehabilitating. Will Horstman's July reporting described progress in his summer return and his involvement with the linebacker group. A sustained return would let him turn that team involvement back into the coverage and pursuit work central to his role. Because movement is so important to the appealing version of this player, the next football evaluation should examine repeated changes of direction, pursuit and coverage through a full workload. Availability and the ability to repeat that work remain part of the football evaluation.

The case for the player

Strengths

  • Range and ball comfort support a linebacker role with meaningful passing-down responsibilities.

  • Run pursuit includes a willingness to work through blocks, giving the movement skills a useful physical foundation.

The questions that remain

Concerns

  • High tackling entries and limited stopping strength can leave a good approach without a secure finish.

  • The interrupted 2025 season leaves the sustained return to competitive work unresolved within this preseason evidence.

Building the fit

NFL role and scheme fit

Use Rojas as an off-ball linebacker whose range can support coverage, pursuit and selected pressure assignments. The attraction is personnel flexibility: an athletic linebacker can help the defense respond to receiving threats without surrendering all of its run support. That role becomes more dependable when the tackle ends with the runner secured, not just the defender arriving. Special-teams work is another plausible early use while the broader defensive responsibilities are earned.

The Draftanomics view

Bottom line

Rojas has a coherent NFL case built on range with a purpose, particularly when the offense forces a linebacker into space. The college record includes both a full starting season and a productive but short follow-up. The return must now support sustained execution, with the same range available late in a workload as at its beginning. The aim is a reliable, flexible defensive contributor whose decisions and finish allow the athletic ability to keep paying off.

Sources & edition

The Draftanomics assessment, synthesized from attributed reporting. Role and development language expresses scouting opinion.

Preseason assessment using the 2024–25 record and summer reporting through August 2026. Rehabilitation reporting is dated context, not current medical clearance; no 2026-game evaluation is included.

Edition reviewed September 12, 2026. Connects coverage, pursuit and pressure to a useful linebacker role, restores the supported block-engagement assessment and makes tackling and return questions specific.

The original August edition remains preserved. This is a revised Draftanomics assessment, with supporting sources attached to each statement.

View the 6 referenced sources
Read statement references

Every passage remains linked to its supporting sources. Open a section to inspect the assessment and its evidence.

Sources for overview
  1. House assessment

    Rojas offers the range and comfort in space to make a linebacker assignment less restrictive for the rest of the defense.

  2. House assessment

    His coverage work and willingness to engage the run give that athletic appeal a football purpose.

  3. House assessment

    The next evaluation must establish how those qualities hold up after his interrupted 2025 season, with tackling finish and a dependable return both central to the role.

Sources for a fuller season and an interrupted one
  1. Reported fact

    Penn State records 16 starts, 58 tackles, six tackles for loss, one sack, three interceptions and four pass breakups for Rojas in 2024.

  2. Reported fact

    He then started four games in 2025, recording 25 tackles, 4.5 for loss, and two sacks.

  3. House assessment

    The longer season establishes experience across a substantial workload, while the shorter one shows promising activity without supplying an equivalent sample.

  4. House assessment

    The full season included plays on the ball as well as work around the line, giving his coverage appeal a productive college foundation.

  5. House assessment

    The return now brings an opportunity to put those responsibilities together over another sustained season.

Sources for range that serves the coverage
  1. House assessment

    Rojas moves smoothly in zone, reads the quarterback and uses his position to disrupt passing lanes in Campbell's evaluation.

  2. House assessment

    He also identifies the ability to handle tight ends in man coverage, giving the defense a reason to keep Rojas involved when the offense changes the matchup.

  3. House assessment

    Mike Renner's assessment supports the broader appeal of his range and comfort around the ball.

  4. House assessment

    For an NFL role, that combination creates the possibility of a linebacker who helps preserve coverage options without requiring a personnel change whenever a receiving threat appears.

  5. House assessment

    The value lies in getting to a useful position under control and remaining part of the play, rather than simply covering ground quickly.

Sources for get there, engage, finish
  1. House assessment

    Campbell describes prompt run reactions, pursuit through traffic and a willingness to shed blocks rather than avoid them.

  2. House assessment

    That is an important foundation for a space-capable linebacker: he still has to work through the bodies between his starting point and the runner.

  3. House assessment

    The same evaluation raises a more specific concern about stopping strength and tackles that arrive too high.

  4. House assessment

    The improvement target is therefore the finish after the approach, with secure contact turning useful range into a completed defensive play.

  5. House assessment

    Andrew Harbaugh also values the decisive, explosive style, while offering a more reserved overall assessment than the most enthusiastic view of Rojas's tools.

Sources for speed with a defined job
  1. House assessment

    Harbaugh identifies promise in both pressure work and coverage, supporting a role that can change the offense's picture before the snap.

  2. House assessment

    A linebacker who can be assigned to either job gives the coordinator more options, but the individual assignment still has to be executed with discipline.

  3. Reported fact

    In Chase Fisher's June reporting, Rojas described his enthusiasm for D'Anton Lynn's aggressive defense and the prospect of playing downhill and blitzing.

  4. House assessment

    That preference fits a role built around fast, purposeful entries into the action.

  5. House assessment

    His pressure role should build from the burst and decisiveness already described, with more complicated responsibilities earned as the execution becomes dependable.

Sources for keep the return question specific
  1. Reported fact

    Fisher reported that a torn ACL sustained in a late-September 2025 practice ended Rojas's season and that he missed spring drills while rehabilitating.

  2. Reported fact

    Will Horstman's July reporting described progress in his summer return and his involvement with the linebacker group.

  3. House assessment

    A sustained return would let him turn that team involvement back into the coverage and pursuit work central to his role.

  4. House assessment

    Because movement is so important to the appealing version of this player, the next football evaluation should examine repeated changes of direction, pursuit and coverage through a full workload.

  5. House assessment

    Availability and the ability to repeat that work remain part of the football evaluation.

Sources for strength
  1. House assessment

    Range and ball comfort support a linebacker role with meaningful passing-down responsibilities.

Sources for strength
  1. House assessment

    Run pursuit includes a willingness to work through blocks, giving the movement skills a useful physical foundation.

Sources for concern
  1. House assessment

    High tackling entries and limited stopping strength can leave a good approach without a secure finish.

Sources for concern
  1. House assessment

    The interrupted 2025 season leaves the sustained return to competitive work unresolved within this preseason evidence.

Sources for nfl role and scheme fit
  1. House assessment

    Use Rojas as an off-ball linebacker whose range can support coverage, pursuit and selected pressure assignments.

  2. House assessment

    The attraction is personnel flexibility: an athletic linebacker can help the defense respond to receiving threats without surrendering all of its run support.

  3. House assessment

    That role becomes more dependable when the tackle ends with the runner secured, not just the defender arriving.

  4. House assessment

    Special-teams work is another plausible early use while the broader defensive responsibilities are earned.

Sources for bottom line
  1. House assessment

    Rojas has a coherent NFL case built on range with a purpose, particularly when the offense forces a linebacker into space.

  2. House assessment

    The college record includes both a full starting season and a productive but short follow-up.

  3. House assessment

    The return must now support sustained execution, with the same range available late in a workload as at its beginning.

  4. House assessment

    The aim is a reliable, flexible defensive contributor whose decisions and finish allow the athletic ability to keep paying off.

College record & draft context

College production, measurables, experience, and the prospect's place on the sealed Public Draft Board.

Public Draft Board

Public Draft Board rank
#94
Position rank
LB7
Contributing sources
5
Movement since prior snapshot
Up 8

Sealed snapshot as of August 31, 2026 · equal-weight aggregation of public boards, minimum 3 sources for a rank · The Public Draft Board

College production

Defense
StatisticSeason 2024Season 2025
Total tackles58†25
Solo tackles35†13
Tackles for loss6†4.5
Sacks1†2
Passes defended41
QB hurries52
Defensive TD10

† Updated from school records · checked September 12, 2026. Unmarked figures are from the retained dataset.

Sources & updated totals

Penn State 2024 final all-games statistics · January 10, 2025 final ledger, page 7, Tony Rojas row; tackle totals corroborated on page 19.

  • 2024 Total tackles: 58 in the official record; 56 in the earlier dataset.
  • 2024 Solo tackles: 35 in the official record; 34 in the earlier dataset.
  • 2024 Tackles for loss: 6 in the official record; 6.5 in the earlier dataset.
  • 2024 Sacks: 1 in the official record; 1.5 in the earlier dataset.
Earlier dataset & evidence notes · September 3, 2026
Defense
StatisticSeason 2024Season 2025
Total tackles5625
Solo tackles3413
Tackles for loss6.54.5
Sacks1.52
Passes defended41
QB hurries52
Defensive TD10

Seasons of evidence: 2. Games played, snap counts, and usage shares are not in the retained data. An em dash means the value is not in the dataset, not zero.

Evidence notes

  • The retained data contains 2 seasons of defense production (2024–2025).
  • Defense tackles decreased in each observed season (56 → 25).
  • The newest college season in the retained data is 2025; the 2026 season is not yet included.
  • No verified athletic testing is included in the sealed dataset for this prospect.
  • 5 contributing public boards rank this prospect; the Public Draft Board places him at #94.
  • The aggregate public rank rose 8 spots between the two most recent sealed weekly snapshots.

Each note restates a displayed fact. None is a forecast of NFL performance.

Experience and measurements

Listed height
6'2"
Listed weight
236 lb
Class
Junior
Age
Not in dataset
Recorded school
Penn State
Former school
Not in dataset
Hometown
Fairfax, VA
Jersey
#13
Recruiting stars
4-star
Recruiting rank
#87 nationally

"Not in dataset" means the value is absent from the sealed dossier dataset, not that it does not exist.

Athletic testing

Not included in the sealed dataset. No combine, pro-day, or RAS value is retained for the 2027 class; absence here does not mean no testing has taken place.

Listed roster height and weight (CollegeFootballData); no verified athletic testing is retained. Bio captured August 29, 2026.

Historical comparisons

Historical profile comparisons are being rebuilt.

Sources and methodology

  • Retained bio and measurements: Draftanomics prospect ingest (CollegeFootballData rosters and recruiting), retained seed data/seed/prospects_upcoming_full.parquet.
  • Retained college production: CollegeFootballData season statistics via the retained player cross-reference; position-relevant categories only; all-zero category rows dropped.
  • Reviewed college totals: Penn State Athletics · checked September 12, 2026.
  • Age: unavailable — no birth date or age is retained for the 2027 class.
  • Transfer history: not retained — the page shows the current school and, where the frozen id names a different school, the former school.
  • Public Draft Board: sealed snapshot as of August 31, 2026; per-source ranks are not published under the aggregate-only source policy.

Board methodologyDossier methodologyResearch status

Board position reflects aggregated public opinion; the scouting report is a separate editorial assessment.