Texas Tech football: LB Jordyn Brooks a Butkus Award finalist

Monday, the Texas Tech football team’s senior middle linebacker, Jordyn Brooks, was named a finalist for the prestigious Butkus Award.

It’s rather ironic that the nation’s No. 121 defense could feature the best linebacker in college football but that might be the case for the 2019 Texas Tech football team.  That’s because, despite the woes of this year’s defense, senior middle linebacker Jordyn Brooks has stood out to the point that on Monday he was named a finalist for the 2019 Butkus Award, given annually to the best linebacker in the nation.

The other five finalists are Zach Braun of Wisconsin, Micah Parsons of Penn State, Isaiah Simmons of Clemson, and Evan Weaver of California, and Logan Wilson of Wyoming.   Past winners of this coveted honor include Brian Bosworth from OU (1985-86), Derrick Thomas from Alabama (1988), LaVar Arrington from Penn State (1999), Derrick Johnson of Texas (2004), Von Miller of Texas A&M (2010), and Jaylon Smith of Norte Dame (2015).  Now, we may see Jordyn Brooks join that elite company.

With 108 tackles (20 for loss) and three sacks, perhaps no player on the roster has benefitted more from the aggressive scheme of new defensive coordinator Keith Patterson.  Prior to this year, Brooks’ career-high in tackles was 89 in 2017 and he’d never had more than 6.5 tackles for loss in any season while playing outside LB.

But moving to middle linebacker has been a perfect move.  Six times this year, he’s amassed at least 10 tackles.  That includes his career game against Oklahoma State.  In Tech’s 45-35 win in Lubbock, Brooks recorded 19 tackles, 11 solo, and three sacks while also forcing a fumble.

Since the moment he stepped on campus, Brooks has been one of the Red Raiders’ top defensive players.  The former 3-star recruit from Houston has been a 4-year starter averaging 84 tackles from 2016-18.

Now, thanks to his amazing senior season, he is among the Red Raiders’ all-time leaders in tackles.  Sitting at 346 for his career with one game to play, Brooks is No. 9 in Texas Tech history.

https://twitter.com/TexasTechFB/status/1198998566523428865?s=20

Over the years, linebacker has been a bit of a weakness for the Red Raiders, especially in the post-Spike Dykes era.  In fact, this is the first Butkus finalist for the program since Zach Thomas in 1995 (who lost out to Kevin Hardy of Illinois).  Other top Red Raider linebackers since Thomas ended his career include Lawrence Flugence, the program’s all-time leader with 500 tackles and Dakota Allen, who amassed 249 tackles in three years in Lubbock.  But we haven’t seen a linebacker with the size and speed of Brooks in decades.

Many are now projecting Tech’s star to be a top NFL Draft prospect next spring.  Last month, ESPN’s Mel Kiper had Brooks as his top inside LB while Walter Football currently has him ranked the No. 8 inside LB.

The Butkus Award recipient will be announced on Dec. 10 and will be selected by a panel of 51 coaches, recruiters, scouts, and journalists.  It will certainly be a sad day on Friday when Brooks plays his final game as a Red Raider but we all have to be thankful for the pleasure it’s been to watch him play for the last four years.