Seahawks: Jordyn Brooks is going to replace K.J. Wright starting in 2021
By Lee Vowell
The Seahawks haven’t yet re-signed free agent linebacker K.J. Wright and it seems as if they are increasingly unlikely to. Jordyn Brooks is going to replace Wright. I cannot guarantee that because I am not Pete Carroll but I have seen enough Seahawks football to expect that Wright is going to go the same way as Cliff Avril. That is, he will not be re-signed but beloved in Seattle forever.
K.J. Wright is a good guy and he’s a good linebacker. But if he wants more than $4 million a year Seattle cannot really afford him and Wright deserves to make more than $4 million a year. Seeing Wright in another uniform would be sad but not unexpected. Wright can help another team but he won’t be helping Seattle.
Jordyn Brooks was drafted in the first round of the 2020 NFL draft to be a starter and not a backup. Bringing Wright back and wasting another year, at least, of Brooks seems dumb. Brooks showed when given the chance he can tackle well and play with speed. The Seahawks should only be able to exploit more of Brooks’s ability in 2021 and beyond.
Seahawks drafted Jordyn Brooks to be a starter
I am not saying Brooks is already a better player than Wright. He isn’t and he isn’t because he doesn’t yet have Wright’s experience. But in 2020, Wright missed tackles 10 percent of the time. Brooks missed tackles 5 percent of the time. Future Hall of Fame linebacker Bobby Wagner missed 6.8 percent of his tackles.
(By the way, Wagner, and I swear I am not making this up, missed .7 percent of his tackles in 2018 which is simply ridiculous.)
My point being, when it comes to stopping people from gaining more yards and securing the tackle, Brooks may already be better than Wright. Also, while Wright might still be fast he has older legs than Brooks and Brooks has tons of speed for a linebacker.
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Does Brooks project more as a Wagner-type linebacker than a Wright-type one? Yes. But Wagner isn’t going anywhere and Wright likely is. Maybe Wagner leaves after 2021 due to his huge contract. If so, Brooks slides over to his spot and Seattle fills Wright’s spot. But in 2021, Brooks is likely Wright and Wagner is Wagner and Seattle’s defense might be even better.