Jimmy Rolder LB Michigan |
NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report
| Jersey: #30 PLAY STYLE: MULI-ROLE LB | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Updated: 02/25/2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Draft Year: 2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FORTY time: 4.68 seconds (59%*) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Age: 22.6 DOB: 02/09/2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Jersey: #30 | |
| PLAY STYLE: MULI-ROLE LB | |
| Last Updated: 02/25/2026 | |
| Draft Year: 2026 | |
| Forty time: 4.68 seconds (59%*) | |
| Age: 22.6 DOB: 02/09/2004 | |
| Overall Rating: | 80.1 / 100 | |
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| Average rating of opposition Offense player has faced | ||
| Offense Rating: |
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75% |
| Click the links below to view how player ranks vs other prospects. | ||
| Tackling: |
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93% |
| Pass Rush: |
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65% |
| Run Defense: |
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85% |
| Coverage: |
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70% |
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DRAFT PROJECTION:
7th
Overall Rank:
#230
Position rank:
#22 (LB)
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| College Games: 39 College Snaps: 896 | ||
ESPN RATING: 82/100
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247 RATING: 90/100
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RIVALS RATING: 5.8 (95%)
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| Player Comparison* (Similarity level) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Tommy Eichenberg - Ohio State |
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89% |
| Oluwafemi Oladejo - UCLA |
|
83% |
| Jack Kiser - Notre Dame |
|
81% |
Drafted: ROUND: 4 - Pick Number: 118 (DET)
Draft Profile: Bio
Jimmy Rolder was a standout third baseman at Marist High School with Division I baseball offers on the table and a verbal commitment to play ball at Illinois. But football kept pulling at him. His stepfather, Scott Kehoe, had played at the University of Illinois and spent time with the Miami Dolphins, so the game was in the bloodline. When Illinois came calling with a football offer late in the recruiting process, the dominoes started falling fast. Within weeks, programs like Ohio State, Michigan, and Minnesota were on the phone. Rolder chose Ann Arbor, and Marist lost a pretty good third baseman.The recruiting services saw something in Rolder before he ever put on the winged helmet. He earned four-star ratings from 247Sports, Rivals, and ESPN, slotted as the No. 279 overall prospect nationally and a top-30 linebacker by the composite rankings. Rivals pegged him even higher at No. 183 overall and the seventh-best inside linebacker in the country. Back at Marist under coach Ron Dawczak, Rolder had racked up 115 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, four sacks, three interceptions, and two forced fumbles as a senior while helping the RedHawks to a 9-4 record and a Class 8A state semifinal berth. He was a Dick Butkus Award semifinalist and an IHSFCA All-State selection. The production and the pedigree were both there.
Rolder's Michigan career required patience. He contributed on special teams as a true freshman in 2022, playing in all 13 games and earning shared Special Teams Freshman of the Year honors. An injury limited him to just six games during the Wolverines' 2023 national championship run, and while he appeared in 12 games as a junior in 2024, he was still working behind established starters and logged only 26 tackles. The breakout finally came in 2025 when he locked down a starting job and led Michigan with 73 tackles, 7.0 for loss, 2.0 sacks, an interception, and a fumble recovery across 12 games and 11 starts. That performance earned him second-team All-Big Ten honors from both the coaches and media, plus a Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week nod after a dominant showing at Michigan State where he tallied 10 tackles, two TFLs, a sack, a fumble recovery, and a pass breakup. He was a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree and a four-time letterman before declaring for the draft in January 2026.
Scouting Report: Strengths
- Plays with a low center of gravity and anchors against blocks with a stout base that belies average measurables for the position.
- His tackling technique is borderline textbook; wraps through contact every single time and almost never lets a ball carrier wriggle free on film.
- Reads his keys quickly in the run game and triggers downhill with conviction, rarely caught flat-footed or hesitating at the second level.
- Violent hands at the point of attack; jolts offensive linemen on contact and creates separation to disengage and make plays in the hole.
- Navigates trash and traffic in the box like a veteran, finding creases through congestion to tighten the alley on ball carriers.
- Against the run, he consistently fits his gap, stacks blocks at the point of attack, and forces runners to bounce into less favorable lanes.
- His Michigan State game was a masterclass in linebacker play: 10 tackles, two TFLs, a sack, a fumble recovery, and he looked like the best player on the field.
- Penalty-free career at Michigan speaks to discipline and body control in tight spaces where less composed linebackers pick up flags.
Scouting Report: Weaknesses
- Only 11 career starts across four seasons raises real questions about why coaches didn't trust him with more playing time sooner.
- When runs bounce to the perimeter, his lateral agility and pursuit speed strain to keep contain, and he loses angles too often.
- Coverage is a clear limitation; receivers and tight ends found soft spots around him at a high clip when targeted in his zone.
- Pass rush is more effort than impact, lacking a go-to move or the burst off the edge to threaten quarterbacks with any consistency.
- Against climbing offensive linemen who get into his frame at the second level, he can get washed out of the play when he fails to shed early.
Scouting Report: Summary
What you're getting with Rolder is a linebacker who will absolutely thud you in the run game. I've watched plenty of off-ball linebackers in this class, and very few of them finish tackles with the same consistency and violence he brings on every snap. That Michigan State tape alone would sell me. The guy plays angry, stays square, and wraps through ball carriers like he's got a personal vendetta. His run defense grades backed that up throughout his senior year, and the missed tackle numbers were ridiculously low for a player who was leading his defense in stops. In a league that still needs linebackers who can hold up on early downs and stuff the run, Rolder brings real, tangible value between the tackles.The concerns are legitimate, though, and they're the reason he's not going to hear his name called on Day 2. Coverage is the price of admission for every-down linebackers in today's NFL, and Rolder just doesn't have the range or fluidity to match up with backs out of the backfield or tight ends working the middle of the field on a consistent basis. He allowed too many completions in his zone, and while the one interception against Washington showed he can make a play when the ball finds him, those moments were the exception. His pass rush won't scare anyone either; he generated some pressure as a blitzer but never developed a reliable repertoire to win on the edge. Those two areas cap his ceiling at the next level.
Rolder's best path to an NFL roster runs through a two-down role in a scheme that values downhill thumpers who can take on blocks, set the edge in the run game, and get off the field on passing downs. A 3-4 defense that plays a physical brand of football and doesn't ask its inside linebackers to match tight ends in space would maximize what he does well. He'll contribute on special teams from Day 1, as he's proven throughout his Michigan career. The lack of starting experience is a flag, but the tape from 2025 shows a player who can be a reliable run-stuffing linebacker at the pro level, and in the right scheme, he could work his way into a starting role by Year 2 or 3.
Jimmy Rolder percentiles vs other Linebackers (NFL Combine historically - higher value represents better perfomance)
How other scouting services rate Jimmy Rolder (Overall Rank)
All Scouts AverageOverall Rank
198.2
All Scouts AveragePosition Rank
27.0
*Percentile Ranking in Player's Position Group (NFL Combine Historical Data): This percentile reflects how a player's specific statistics rank
in comparison to historical performances at the NFL Combine, specifically within their position group. A higher percentile indicates a better performance.
For instance, being in the 90th percentile for a particular stat means the player outperformed 90% of their peers in that category.
*Similarity Percentage: This percentage is calculated based on a comprehensive analysis of various factors, including height, weight, 40-yard dash times, on-field performance statistics, and overall player rating. The analysis is conducted against our database of draft prospects from 2021 to 2023. This similarity score helps in evaluating how closely a current prospect aligns with past prospects. It is important to note, however, that this score reflects similarities based on college production and attributes, and does not account for eventual success or performance in the NFL.
*Similarity Percentage: This percentage is calculated based on a comprehensive analysis of various factors, including height, weight, 40-yard dash times, on-field performance statistics, and overall player rating. The analysis is conducted against our database of draft prospects from 2021 to 2023. This similarity score helps in evaluating how closely a current prospect aligns with past prospects. It is important to note, however, that this score reflects similarities based on college production and attributes, and does not account for eventual success or performance in the NFL.