Jordyn Brooks was a surprise 1st round pick this year. But, with aging stars Bobby Wagner and KJ Wright, maybe the Seahawks made the right pick.
“We picked who!?” This is a statement that many Seahawks fans across the globe made on April 23, 2020, the date of the first round for this year’s NFL Draft, as the Seahawks took a mostly unheard-of interior linebacker Jordyn Brooks from Texas Tech with their first pick.
I can’t lie, I was one of those fans. I proceeded to research everything I could about Jordyn Brooks for the next few hours diving deep into the depths of Youtube highlights where I eventually found multiple videos of all snaps played by Jordyn Brooks against different top tier offensive opponents.
The more and more I watched and read, the more and more I was impressed. I also began to start thinking that even though the Seahawks did not draft a major need like pass rusher or offensive tackle, they made the right pick.
Brooks is not going to help with the pass rush straight off. He probably will not even the tons of snaps to begin with as Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright are still really good. But in a couple of seasons, Brooks could be – probably should be – starting.
There are three major reasons why Jordyn Brooks is going to be a mainstay of the Seahawks defense for the next decade, the first of which is the main reason why I took a u-turn on my evaluation of the Seahawks first-round pick.
Reason 1: His NFL Comp is Bobby Wagner
While breaking down the Seahawks pick of Brooks, CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora proclaimed that he loved the pick and that two evaluators that he trusts had the same pro comp for Brooks: Bobby Wagner. Brooks’ head coach at Texas Tech Matt Wells also said that Jordyn Brooks is the next Bobby Wagner and of all people, he would know.
Texas Tech head coach Matt Wells called Jordyn Brooks the "next Bobby Wagner" which he would know since he coaches Wagner at Utah State.
— Ross Tucker (@RossTuckerNFL) April 24, 2020
I think Seahawks fans would sign up for that.
Brooks and Wagner share an almost identical frame, with Brooks being listed by Sports Reference as 6′ 0″ and 240 pounds, while Wagner is listed as 6′ 0″ and 242 pounds. Brooks is very similar to Wagner in that his greatest skill is finding the ball, and quite often, he’s finding the ball behind the line of scrimmage.
His college stats were fairly impressive for all four years that he was a Red Raider, but his senior season stood out. Brooks had 20 tackles for loss and 3 sacks to go along with 108 total tackles. In an interview with 12th Man Rising’s Lee Vowell, Matthew Connor of FanSided’s Texas Tech site, Wreck ’em Red, said that Brooks’ senior season he was unleashed on blitzes, something that had not been happening that often under the previous coaching staff, and that he really seemed to find a groove with the new regime letting him play to his strengths.
Brooks is clearly a great tackler, and part of his unreal tackling ability is his speed, which came in handy against the fastest conference in the nation, the Big 12. Brooks ran a 4.54 40 yard dash (80th percentile for linebackers) at the combine, and he had not been training like everyone else as he was recovering from shoulder surgery and was cleared to run at the combine just days before.
Reason 2: He will start Day 1
On May 1, just a few days after the draft, Seahawks GM John Schneider went on 950am KJR to discuss the draft and also that KJ Wright had shoulder surgery and there is no timetable for his return. If KJ Wright misses games in the regular season, the natural replacement would be Jordyn Brooks.
While they do different things, Jordyn more interior and run-stopping and KJ more outside and pass coverage, Brooks and Wagner would make a great 1-2 punch for the Seahawks linebacking core if Wright is not healthy. I just hope that if this situation happens Pete Carroll does not turn to the more natural same-for-same replacement of Cody Barton.
Barton had limited playing time last season but in his action he looked like a KJ Wright type, dropping back into coverage well just as Wright does.
Even if Wright is healthy, the Seahawks predominately base defense scheme would allow for Wagner, Wright, and Brooks to all be on the field at once. According to Pro Football Focus, last season Seattle was in base defense (3 LB’s, 4 DB’s), as opposed to nickel defense (2 LB’s, 5 DB’s), 68.8% of snaps, which was 30% higher than any other team. If Pete Carroll and Ken Norton Jr want to run a similar defense next season this means that the door is open for Brooks or Barton to play a high percentage of snaps.
Reason 3: He’s going to learn from the best
For the short term, Brooks will learn to play alongside Bobby Wagner under the tutelage of KJ Wright. For the long term, Wagner will groom Brooks to be his replacement. While the situation of building a guy up to one day replace you may seem like something that Wagner might not want to do, it is quite the opposite. Wagner called Brooks right after he was drafted and has said that he is excited to be a leader for Brooks and “give away (his) knowledge.”
As KJ wright is now 30 and out of contract after next season, Brooks will probably only get one year to learn from Wright. But, this year could be a year of learning that helps the Seahawks win a Super Bowl. Learning to become a great partner to Bobby Wagner will help the Seahawks compete the next few seasons until Brooks takes over the MLB role from the aging Wagner who is also 30.
KJ Wright can also help Brooks adjust to the NFL passing game, and help him turn one of his weaknesses into a strength. While he did have a huge interception in the endzone his junior season against TCU (Pictured above), all scouting reports have Brooks’ main weakness being his pass coverage, something that KJ Wright does at an elite level for a linebacker.
If Bobby can help him adjust to being an interior linebacker in the NFL, and KJ can fine-tune his pass coverage skills, Jordyn Brooks will indeed be the next great Seahawks linebacker.