ASHBURN, Va. — Chris Rodriguez Jr. showed the result of months of work with a single run on “Monday Night Football.” On the second play from scrimmage in the Washington Commanders’ preseason loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, the third-year running back took a handoff from quarterback Jayden Daniels, cut right to dodge a defensive tackle, then burst up the seam for 40 yards, hitting a max speed of 20.37 miles per hour.
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The play encapsulated much about Rodriguez’s value on the field, spotlighting his vision and elusiveness as a runner. It was just the latest instance on a growing list of moments that have earned him more opportunities in Washington — including a spot on the active roster.
Chris Rodriguez Jr. gets loose for the big gain!
Watch on ESPN
Stream on @NFLPlus and ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/dBKeXjgPpl— NFL (@NFL) August 19, 2025
The Commanders traded away former starter Brian Robinson Jr. and kept four backs on their initial roster, giving offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury a versatile group he can use in the run and pass games.
Seventh-round rookie Jacory Croskey-Merritt is among them, and he garnered the most attention during training camp and the preseason. But Rodriguez’s transformation didn’t go unnoticed, allowing him to join an increasingly exclusive club; he’s one of only six players drafted by Washington’s previous staff to still be with the team.
“When somebody can demonstrate over and over again that they’re willing to put the work in, find the right read, not just the physical skill, but mentally and on the special teams — he’s a player that this team really trusts,” coach Dan Quinn said.
After spending much of last season on the practice squad before impressing late in the season to earn a roster spot, Rodriguez used his offseason to take his game to another level.
His goals: get faster and leaner.
Rodriguez said his normal playing weight had been around 225 to 230 pounds. But after he suffered a high ankle sprain late in his rookie season, it jumped to 235 pounds, the heaviest of his career. He failed to make the initial 53-man roster in 2024 and knew he needed to change to have a chance this year.
“I did talk to (special teams coordinator Larry) Izzo last year, and being on the practice squad, he was saying one of the reasons on special teams why he liked other guys in that position is because I wasn’t running as fast as some of them,” Rodriguez said. “So I made it my mission to become faster, which was more technique for me. And obviously, I was heavy.”
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To fix that, Rodriguez spent nearly a month and a half in the Atlanta area working with Lily Abdelmalek, the founder of DSA Sports Performance, who has worked with numerous professional athletes in her two decades of training.
Abdelmalek specializes in speed and change-of-direction skills, becoming a go-to source for NFL players, including Washington cornerback Noah Igbinoghene and former Washington receiver Olamide Zaccheaus.
Rodriguez worked out at 6:30 a.m. and was at it four to five days a week during his time with Abdelmalek. Her NFL offseason program includes strength and mobility training with DSA’s strength coach, speed and footwork with her, and skills training with a positional specialist.
“She would pull these mats out — when you saw the mats, you would just pray and ask God that we only had one or two reps,” Rodriguez recalled. “It’s like a big blue mat, and you would think it’s easy, like, ‘OK, let’s do high knees.’ But those high knees after a while will start burning and burning and burning, and she had no remorse. Just got to keep pushing through.”
Rodriguez didn’t lack for speed or explosiveness when the Commanders drafted him in 2023. He set a school record at Kentucky with 20 100-yard rushing games and finished his career ranked third all time in rushing yards (3,644).
He ran a 4.51-second 40 at his pro day but was deemed by some analysts, including The Athletic’s Dane Brugler, to lack true breakaway speed; only 15 of Rodriguez’s 400 carries in his final two college seasons went for 20 yards or more.
“I really emphasize being efficient — foot placement,” Abdelmalek said. “Especially in his position, being able to cut, create separation, accelerate and maintain that speed for his breakaway is huge. So I think that’s something that, just understanding you have more explosiveness when you tighten up your footwork, you’re able to be more efficient in that sense.”
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As part of the program, Rodriguez also worked with wide receivers coach Drew Lieberman, intending to improve his pass catching and route running ahead of another season in Kingsbury’s system, which often features backs in the pass game. Rodriguez has been targeted with passes all of three times in his pro career.
Rodriguez shed pounds in the process and is down to 222, a weight he said has made a noticeable difference on the field.
“I think last year I hit 20 mph probably three times, maybe, throughout the whole year, and I hit it more times in training camp than I have in almost my whole life,” he said.
The Commanders had a third-round grade on Rodriguez before selecting him in the sixth round in 2023. But he joined a running backs group that already featured Antonio Gibson and Robinson, so the bulk of his rookie-season snaps were on special teams. It wasn’t until late in the season that he started to get more time on offense because of injuries at the position.
In the same game he scored his first two career rushing touchdowns, against the New York Jets in Week 16, Rodriguez also suffered the high ankle sprain.
Last year, when Quinn was hired and the Commanders overhauled nearly every facet of the organization, Rodriguez failed to make the initial 53-man roster but was added to the practice squad as a safety net. He was elevated in times of injury and later added to the 53.
In Week 9, when he was informed about 90 minutes before kickoff that he’d be active, he led the team with 52 rushing yards (all in the second half), helping to set up a pair of field goals in Washington’s 27-22 win over the New York Giants.
He was cut weeks later to clear a roster spot for someone else.
Rodriguez re-signed three days later and went on to prove the decision a wise one, coming off the bench in a blowout win over the Tennessee Titans and turning his garbage time minutes into meaningful moments with 94 rushing yards and a touchdown. He punctuated his season with a go-ahead touchdown run in an overtime win against the Atlanta Falcons that clinched Washington’s spot in the playoffs.
Another long @Commanders drive ends with 6️⃣! Rodriguez takes it in for the lead!
📺: #ATLvsWAS on NBC/Peacock
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/HwnfZ9vseF— NFL (@NFL) December 30, 2024
“Yeah, we really have a lot of confidence in him,” Quinn said in December. “He’s just somebody that through practice and through the opportunities that he gets, he really delivers on that.”
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When Washington finalized its first active roster last week, Rodriguez waited out cutdown day expecting a call. Instead, he got a “see you tomorrow” after finishing his workout at the facility, and arrived for the team meeting the next morning.
“I like his fight,” Quinn said. “I like that he really worked hard to change his body, and those are things that, when people continue to show you that, then you pay attention.”
(Photo: Jordyn Harris / Imagn Images)
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