The Seahawks always seem to have perplexing drafts. But taking linebacker Jordyn Brooks first in 2020 seems odd. Here is why Seattle did that.
The Seahawks have a recent history of their first picks not working out so well. Seattle usually does the unexpected with early picks and 2020 was no different. Just when everyone thought that the Seahawks would go edge rusher or offensive tackle first, Seattle choose a linebacker. And why not? But for the Seahawks to maintain their success Jordyn Brooks needs to work out well.
Seattle chose Brooks with the 27th overall pick in this year’s draft. In college, Brooks was a tackling machine who plays aggressively. He sounds like the kind of player that Seattle likes on defense. Oh, and he is fast too and fast enough to have been capable of playing on the Seattle defenses of 2013 and 2014.
Seattle over the last few seasons seems to like that same kind of speed. Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright are still very good but getting older and as players age, they slow down. Wagner and Wright will still be the starters in 2020, but Brooks wasn’t drafted to be really good in 2020, he was drafted to be a starter and productive for many seasons beyond this coming year.
To find out more about how good Jordyn Brooks can be, among other things, as I asked Matthew Connor of FanSided’s Texas Tech site, Wreck ‘Em Red, five questions about that the Seahawks newest linebacker.
Memories
12th Man Rising: What are some of your favorite memories from Jordyn Brooks in college, the moments that stand out to you?
Matthew Conner: My favorite individual play from his career was in 2018 when he had an interception in the end zone against TCU. On that play, he was playing outside LB and he trailed the slot receiver into the end zone before reaching around him to tip the ball up to himself and make the pick. It was a phenomenal play. The only problem was that in his excitement, he took the ball out of the end zone and was tackled at the three-yard-line thus setting the offense up in an awful situation.
Still, in a game that Tech won just 17-14, this was a huge play and it was a rare moment when the Red Raider defense carried the team to a victory. It also showed just how athletic Brooks is.
His best game came last year against Oklahoma State. In the 45-35 upset of the No. 21 Cowboys, Brooks was an animal. He finished with 19 tackles, three sacks, four tackles for loss and a forced fumble. There was a point in the third quarter when he missed an open-field tackle that led to a 23-yard run.
I remember being in the stands noticing that he missed that play and watching him on the next play as he knifed through the line like a heat-seeking missile to sack the QB and strip the ball. You could tell that he was angry about the play before and hell-bent on atoning for it in a big way.
Strengths and Brooks as a Seahawks teammate
12th Man Rising: What kind of teammate do you think he was and how do you think he will transition off the field to the pros?
Matthew Connor: He was without question the heart and soul of the Red Raiders last year. He’s a lead by example kind of guy who doesn’t say just a ton, especially in public, but who the other players looked up to and whose example they followed. Remember, last year was the first year of Matt Wells’ time as head coach and the seniors could have left or been bitter after Kliff Kingsbury was fired.
But Wells has repeatedly praised Brooks for buying in and being the leader that helped the program transition through the coaching change. There’s no question that he will be one of the hardest-working players on the Seattle roster and he is a true leader of men. While at Texas Tech, he was the model citizen and those inside the program that saw him on a daily basis couldn’t say enough about his character.
12th Man Rising: What are some of the strengths that should help him help the Seahawks?
Matthew Connor: If you let Brooks play downhill and attack the football, he’s at his best. He has an uncanny knack for finding the football and making game-changing plays. He is most effective when playing in the middle of the formation and right now, stopping the run is his best trait, something that should be very useful in the NFC West with San Francisco and Los Angeles both deploying strong rushing attacks. He also developed into a surprisingly effective blitzer this past season.
Prior to that, he was playing in a more passive defensive scheme that didn’t send him after the QB much but with the coaching change, he was turned loose and the results were fantastic. Brooks had 20 tackles for loss this season and I don’t remember ever seeing a middle LB spend as much time in the backfield as he did in 2019. He’s a disruptive player when allowed to attack and that should translate to the NFL.
Any concerns about Brooks and things we don’t know
12th Man Rising: What would be some of your biggest concerns about him on the field in the NFL?
Matthew Connor: With K.J. Wright and Bobby Wagner already in place in the middle of the Seahawks defense, I worry that Brooks might be asked to do things on the field that he’s not necessarily suited for. Namely, I hope he isn’t asked to cover speedy slot receivers or even tight ends one-on-one. The good news is that the NFL is a nickel and dime coverage league much more than the college game so LBs aren’t put in that position as often.
Still, Brooks will need to work on his pass coverage abilities because NFL teams will scheme into mismatches. Also, he had a shoulder injury that impacted the last month of his senior year but he played through it until the final game when Tech was already out of bowl contention. He’s a very violent player who throws his body around like a wrecking ball and I hope that his shoulder is able to fully recover and withstand the punishment of the NFL.
12th Man Rising: What are some of the things, on the field or off the field or both, 12s might not know about Jordyn Brooks but should know?
Matthew Connor: Brooks was one of seven kids growing up and when he was young, his family was homeless for a while. In fact, he spend four years having to live with friends, relatives, or in a vehicle. A lot of young people who go through similar circumstances struggle to overcome such adversity but he was able to do so and develop into arguably the best player Texas Tech has seen on the defensive side of the ball in the last two decades (granted, not a high bar). He’s also taken those experiences from his childhood and used them to ground himself as a person off the field and that’s one of the reasons for his tremendous success both in life and as a football player.
Every college football program has a ton of knuckleheads come through and you often hear about their rough upbringing as a reason for their off-field missteps. But Brooks was such a fantastic student-athlete that most of us didn’t know about his difficult childhood until well into his senior year when the ESPN broadcast crew gave us this insight during the third game of the season against Arizona. That’s a sign of just how solid of an individual Brooks is. Of course, we are biased but everyone in West Texas is confident that Seattle fans will love Jordyn Brooks.