The name Zach Thomas never came up when Miami Dolphins assistant general manager Kyle Smith spoke about Jacob Rodriguez after the team made him its second-round selection in the 2026 draft Friday night. He didn't need to. It's too obvious. And, no, nobody is saying that Rodriguez will become the same kind of defensive star that Thomas was on his way to the Hall of Fame, but the similarities also are impossible to ignore. And it goes way beyond playmaking ability and the fact both attended Texas Tech. Rodriguez brings to the Dolphins a lot of the same intangibles that Thomas did as a fifth-round pick in 1996 that head coach Jimmy Johnson noticed quickly enough that he made Thomas as a starter early in his rookie camp. Rodriguez is a superior athlete with better size than Thomas was 30 years ago, though again nobody should put the pressure of those kind of expectations on him. That said, the Dolphins have very high hopes for him.…