Rocky Lombardi (born July 30, 1998)[1] is an American professional football quarterback who is a free agent. He played college football for the Michigan State Spartans and the Northern Illinois Huskies and was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2024 by the Cincinnati Bengals.
_(cropped).jpg) Lombardi with the Huskies in 2021 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born: | July 30, 1998 Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S. |
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Weight: | 223 lb (101 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Valley (West Des Moines, Iowa) |
| College: | Michigan State (2017–2020) Northern Illinois (2021–2023) |
| Position: | Quarterback |
| Undrafted: | 2024 |
| Career history | |
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |
Early life and high school
editLombardi grew up in Clive, Iowa and attended Valley High School. He was rated a three-star recruit and committed to play college football at Michigan State over offers from Iowa, Iowa State, Northern Illinois, Virginia and Western Michigan.[2]
College career
editMichigan State
editLombardi was redshirted during his true freshman year in 2017 and was named the Scout Team Offensive Player of the Week after his performance against Iowa. During the 2018 season, he played in eight games (seven playing as a quarterback and one as a punter) and started three of them at quarterback.[3] He finished the season with completing 68 out of 154 passing attempts for 738 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions.[4] During the 2019 season, he played in eight games while in limited action and finished the season with playing 51 snaps, completing 7 out of 21 passing attempts for 74 yards and two interceptions.[5] During the 2020 season, he played in and started six games finishing the season with completing 84 out of 157 passing attempts for a career-high 1,090 yards, eight touchdowns and nine interceptions.[6] He was named to the Manning Award Stars of the Week, the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award's Great 8 List and the Manning Award National Quarterback of the Week after his performance against Michigan.[7][8]
On December 18, 2020, Lombardi announced that he would be entering the transfer portal.[9] On December 27, 2020, he announced that he would be transferring to Northern Illinois.[10]
Northern Illinois
editDuring the 2021 season, Lombardi played in and started 13 games and finished the season with completing 200 out of 343 passing attempts for 2,597 yards with 15 touchdown passes and eight interceptions.[11] He was named the MAC West Offensive Player of the Week for two consecutive weeks with the first being after his performance during the Week 4 game against Maine where he ran for a season-high 119 yards on 10 carries with three rushing scores.[12][13] He was named the MAC West Offensive Player of the Week for the second time in the season after his performance during the Week 8 game against Central Michigan where he completed 17 out of 27 passing attempts for 348 yards with three touchdowns earning a win for the Huskies.[14]
During the 2022 season, he played in four games because of an injury he suffered through after the Week 3 game against Vanderbilt.[15] He finished the season with completing 50 out of 75 passing attempts for 645 yards and five touchdowns.[16] Prior to the season, he was named to the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Watchlist.[17]
Lombardi returned for the 2023 season after receiving a medical redshirt. Prior to the season, he was named to the Reese's Senior Bowl Watchlist.[18]
Professional career
edit| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 3+5⁄8 in (1.92 m) |
223 lb (101 kg) |
31+1⁄8 in (0.79 m) |
9+1⁄8 in (0.23 m) |
4.70 s | 1.57 s | 2.69 s | 4.47 s | 7.25 s | 35.0 in (0.89 m) |
9 ft 10 in (3.00 m) | ||
| All values from Pro Day[19][20] | ||||||||||||
Cincinnati Bengals
editLombardi signed as an undrafted free agent with the Cincinnati Bengals on April 27, 2024.[21][22] He was also selected by the Michigan Panthers in the fifth round of the 2024 UFL draft on July 17.[23] Lombardi was waived on August 23.[24]
Personal life
editLombardi is the son of football coach Tony Lombardi and is the grandson of the late Bob Lombardi.[25] His younger brother Beau played college football for the Army Black Knights.[26]
References
edit- ^ "NFL Draft Profile: Rocky Lombardi, Quarterback, Northern Illinois Huskies". SI.com. January 1, 2023. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
- ^ "Rocky Lombardi, Valley, Pro-Style Quarterback". 247sports.com. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
- ^ Morgan, Blake (October 27, 2018). "Michigan State QB Rocky Lombardi receives first career start against Purdue". Lansing State Journal. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
- ^ "Rocky Lombardi 2018 Gamelog". Sports Reference. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
- ^ "Rocky Lombardi 2019 Gamelog". Sports Reference. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
- ^ "Rocky Lombardi 2020 Gamelog". Sports Reference. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
- ^ Brewster, Andrew (November 5, 2020). "Michigan State QB Rocky Lombardi named Manning Award Quarterback of the Week". Spartans Wire. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
- ^ "Rocky Lombardi Earns Pair Of National Awards". Michigan State Spartans. February 11, 2020. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
- ^ Moberg, McClain (December 18, 2020). "Michigan State QB Rocky Lombardi Enters Transfer Portal". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
- ^ Rittenberg, Adam (December 27, 2020). "QB Rocky Lombardi transfers to Northern Illinois". ESPN. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
- ^ "Rocky Lombardi 2021 Gamelog". Sports Reference. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
- ^ "MAC Announces Week 4 Football Players of the Week". Mid-American Conference. September 27, 2021. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
- ^ Leber, Scott (September 27, 2021). "NIU quarterback Lombardi named MAC West Offensive Player of the Week". My Stateline. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
- ^ "Lombardi, Woodill Pick Up MAC Player of the Week Honors". Northern Illinois Huskies. October 25, 2021. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
- ^ "Northern Illinois QB Rocky Lombardi suffers undisclosed injury". On3.com. September 18, 2022. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
- ^ "Rocky Lombardi 2022 Gamelog". Sports Reference. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
- ^ "Rocky Lombardi Named To Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Watchlist". Northern Illinois Huskies. August 24, 2022. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
- ^ "NIU's Rocky Lombardi Named to Reese's Senior Bowl Watch List". Northern Illinois Huskies. August 23, 2023. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
- ^ "2024 NFL Draft Scout Rocky Lombardi College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
- ^ "2023 Huskie Seniors Work Out for NFL Scouts at NIU Pro Day". NIUHuskies.com. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
- ^ "Former Michigan State football QB Rocky Lombardi signs with the Cincinnati Bengals as UDFA". Spartans Wire. April 28, 2024. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
- ^ "Bengals Sign 14 College Free Agents". Bengals.com. May 10, 2024.
- ^ "2024 UFL College Draft: Showboats select Kansas QB Jason Bean with No. 1 pick". FoxSports.com. July 17, 2024. Retrieved July 19, 2024.
- ^ "Rocky Lombardi: Waived by Bengals". CBS Sports. August 23, 2024. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
- ^ Goodwin, Cody (October 5, 2016). "Inside Valley QB Rocky Lombardi's endless pursuit of perfection". Des Moines Register. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
- ^ "Beau Lombardi". Army Black Knights.