Thursday night, former Red Raider middle linebacker Jordyn Brooks became the first Texas Tech football alum selected in the first round of the NFL Draft since Pat Mahomes.
There was no question that linebacker Jordyn Brooks was the best player on the Texas Tech football team last year. Thursday, he became the first Red Raider since Pat Mahomes in 2017 to be taken in the first round of the NFL Draft when he was taken No. 27 overall by the Seattle Seahawks.
He becomes just the eighth Red Raider ever to go in the first round of the NFL Draft. What’s more, he’s the first Texas Tech defensive player to be a first-round pick since defensive tackle Gabe Rivera in 1983.
Despite playing with a shoulder injury for the final month of the 2019 season, he still ended up with 108 tackles (66 solo), including 20 that went for a loss. That earned him second-team All-American honors.
Now, he’s headed to a franchise that knows a bit about linebackers. In fact, in 2018, Pro Football Focus named the Seattle linebacking corps as the best in the NFL.
Anchoring the Seahawk LBs is 6-time Pro Bowl selection and 5-time All-Pro honoree Bobby Wagner. The eight-year pro is signed through the 2022 season so that might free up Brooks to be more of a pass-rusher for a team that knows a thing or two about getting after the QB.
Interestingly, former Seahawks scout Jim Nagy, who is the director of the Senior Bowl, which Brooks participated in back in January, Tweeted that Brooks reminds him of Wagner. That’s the highest possible praise for any LB.
Seattle just took a guy that reminded me of Bobby Wagner when I watched him. Jordyn Brooks was one of the funnest players we watched this year for the @seniorbowl.
— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) April 24, 2020
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For his career, Brooks only amassed 6.5 sacks. But we have to remember that he spent three years in the read-and-react system of former defensive coordinator David Gibbs, who blitzed as about as frequently as Halley’s Comet appears.
Last year, he was more at home in the scheme of Keith Patterson, who loves to blitz regardless of the down or distance. So despite playing middle LB, he racked up a career-best 3.0 sacks in his senior season.
Despite missing the season finale against Texas, he led the Big 12 in tackles for loss and tackles for loss per game. Therefore, it isn’t tough to envision what his role will be for the Seahawks.
If there is a weakness in Brooks’ game, it is his ability to play pass coverage. But if he is used more as a pass-rushing outside LB, he might not have to spend as much time in coverage than he did at Tech.
Also, for the Red Raiders, he never came off the field, even in passing situations. But Seattle should have a much more balanced defense meaning that he doesn’t have to do everything for his new team that he was asked to do for his college team.
Brooks was one of five Big 12 players taken in the first round. OU wideout Cee Dee Lamb was the highest-picked when he went to Dallas at No. 17. Four picks later, TCU’s speedy receiver Jalen Reagor ended up with the Philadelphia Eagles. LB Kenneth Murray, another Sooner, went to the Los Angeles Chargers at No. 23 while TCU corner Jeff Gladney landed in Minnesota with the No. 31 pick.
A 4-year starter, Brooks racked up 360 tackles as a Red Raider, 9th-most in Texas Tech football history. Now, he’s off to the NFL and he’s found a home in an organization that knows how to put together a dominant defense. Congratulations Jordyn!