He played college football for the Oregon State Beavers, and was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the fifth round of the 2011 NFL draft.

Rodgers attended Lamar Consolidated High School, where he played for the Mustangs football team.

[5][6] He was also named the Built Ford Tough Texas High School Football Player of the Year in Class 4A.

[8][9] His high school career is chronicled in Dr. Brent Melloy's book UNHERALDED: How Jacquizz Rodgers led the 2007 Lamar Consolidated Mustangs to an improbable Texas State Championship.

Most notably, his best game in his young college football career came in an upset of the then #1 ranked team in the country, the USC Trojans, when he had 36 carries for 186 yards and two touchdowns.

[11] Rodgers broke the Pac-10 freshman rushing record during Oregon State's 34–6 victory over UCLA on November 8, 2008.

[12] At the end of the season, he was unable to play in the Civil War against Oregon due to injury and was beaten out by California's Jahvid Best as the 2008 Pac-10 Rushing Leader.

[15][16] In the 2009 Maaco Bowl Las Vegas, he was thrown a backwards lateral, which resulted in the first fumble of his collegiate career.

[22][23] On January 10, 2011, Rodgers announced that he would forgo his final year of eligibility and enter the NFL draft.

[44] On October 12, 2015, Rodgers was placed on injured reserve after breaking his arm in the Bears' 18–17 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.

[49] On October 10, Rodgers had a career-high 30 carries for 101 yards on Monday Night Football helping the Buccaneers defeat the defending NFC Champion Carolina Panthers, 17–14.

[51] In Week 16, against the New Orleans Saints, he was named starter after Doug Martin was made a healthy scratch,[52] rushing 15 times for 63 yards and a touchdown.

[61] His older brother, James Rodgers, was a wide receiver for the Atlanta Falcons and the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL).