California 2025 three-star DL Rob Rooks is pure trouble for offenses
Written by Ryan Wright
Twitter: @RyanWrightRNG
No matter the team, division, or state, high school football squads need some magic on the roster to capture a state championship. In California, St. Vincent de Paul has Rob Rooks. The Class of 2025 prospect has the size, strength, and athleticism to do just about anything asked of him in the defensive box. Those talents helped the Mustangs to a 13-2 season in 2023 with six offers (plus one) backing the play on the field.
Line the 6-2, 260-pound, defender up on the edge or in a three to one technique, big plays happen. Rooks romped offenses for his Petaluma area team coming up with 85 stops, 10.5 sacks, 22 tackles for a loss, three forced fumbles, and two blocked field goals during his junior campaign.
“Our defense changed by week, but our base is a 4-2,” Rooks stated. “It changed by week depending on if we were facing a veer team, then we’d go to an odd front, or against a screen team, odd front, or against a wing team we’d go even. Our coach trains us well to adjust our defense.”
Rooks continued, “My role on defense is to create havoc, I know that is a commonly said thing. We have a double team guy who takes those on to make space for our linebackers to make plays. My job is to get in the backfield and make plays and get tackles for a loss. I do take on double teams; more started coming after me as the season went on. They were letting our linebackers run free.”
Asked how he would describe his style of play, Rooks responded with, “My style of play is as a tactician. I think a lot of things through; I have a lot of ways to obtain my goals. I observe.”
Citing his explosiveness as a strength to his game, Rooks is grinding to take those skills to another level.
“I am working on my explosiveness doing power cleans and squats, and I am working on my footspeed,” Rooks said.
Nevada being the most recent to offer on Jan. 24, Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth, and Sacramento State have also extended their opportunities to the 4.1 GPA student-athlete. More programs are scouting him.
“Cal Poly, Georgetown, Navy, Army, Harvard, and Rice are showing interest,” Rooks shared.
During the fall months, Rooks made game-day stops at UC Davis and Yale. More trips are upcoming.
“I am going to Rice on the 28th, and I am visiting Yale again,” Rooks stated. “There are more, I have to talk to my parents to get that concrete.”
Georgetown dropped offer No. 7 after the interview was conducted.