Texas Tech football players that could be All-Big 12 at season’s end

HOUSTON, TX - SEPTEMBER 01: Scottie Phillips #22 of the Mississippi Rebels scores in the second quarter as Jordyn Brooks #1 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders attempts to keep him out ot the endzone at NRG Stadium on September 1, 2018 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX - SEPTEMBER 01: Scottie Phillips #22 of the Mississippi Rebels scores in the second quarter as Jordyn Brooks #1 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders attempts to keep him out ot the endzone at NRG Stadium on September 1, 2018 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

LB Jordyn Brooks

With the departure of Dakota Allen, senior LB Jordyn Brooks is set to be the leader of the Red Raider defense in 2019.  And if he has a typical season by his standards, he could very well be one of the best LBs in the conference.

For his career, he’s averaged 86.3 tackles per season.  If he matches that average in 2019, he will finish as the program’s ninth all-time leading tackler with 345.

Last year, he led the Red Raiders in tackles with 84, his third-straight 80-tackle season.  What’s more, he had at least five tackles in ten of twelve games.  His season-high was 15 against Texas and he followed that up with 12 two weeks later against Baylor in the season finale.

This year, don’t be surprised to see the 6-foot-1, 240-pounder be more involved in the pass rush.  With four career sacks, Brooks is actually one of the most accomplished pass rushers on the roster.

Tech is going to play a much more aggressive style of defense this year under new DC Keith Patterson, who places a premium on getting to the QB.  Given that Patterson will want to bring pressure from all over the field and that junior LB Riko Jeffers will also be there to help patrol the middle of the field, it would not be shocking to see Brooks unleashed on blitzes more than we’ve been accustomed to.

With a nose for the ball, Brooks is an attacking LB that plays better moving downhill as Patterson will ask him to do, rather than playing a reactionary style as he did under David Gibbs.  He is perhaps a perfect middle linebacker to plug into Patterson’s defense and because he will be uncaged like never before in this new scheme, it is not a stretch to imagine Brooks landing on the All-Big 12 team in December.