Jordyn Brooks, LB, Seattle Seahawks
From James Carpenter, to Bruce Irvin, to Germain Ifedi, to Rashaad Penny, to L.J. Collier, the Seahawks have had some pretty interesting first-round picks in the Pete Carroll and John Schneider era. Seattle’s front office seems to want to take chances with players who fit an athletic and schematic profile with their high picks, but there’s also a tendency to leave out some of the specifics. Often, the Seahawks have been left with prototypes they talked themselves into, with middling results.
Brooks could easily be another one of those types. Last season, the Seahawks went back to the future with base defense — they had three linebackers on the field on the field on 67% of their snaps, by far the most in the NFL, and an exceeding rarity when most teams are throwing five or more defensive backs on the field at least 70% of the time. Brooks fits that mold as a downhill thumper — he’s one of the best run-stoppers and tacklers in this draft class.
“The guy was involved in 20% of the plays,” Schneider said of Brooks’ potential role. “His production is off the charts. I think that staff obviously looked at him in a very similar manner that they did to Bobby [Wagner]. It was incredibly helpful to be able to evaluate that.”
The problem with the Wagner Theory is that Wagner projected perfectly as a run-and-chase linebacker who could cover in his Utah State tape. The way that defense was set up, he was the only linebacker on the field at times, and he had the range and quickness to get it done. That has extrapolated very well to Wagner’s NFL career.
Brooks is a more complicated evaluation in this role. While he’s very quick in a straight line, he’s not an ideal fit as a coverage linebacker. Brooks is a stoutly-built defender who takes a bit to long to get to form when he’s trailing back to cover. So, if the Seahawks imagine they’re getting the next Bobby Wagner in Brooks, they may have sold themselves another bill of goods.