Big 12 Football: Each team’s top 2020 NFL Draft prospect

Although Kliff Kingsbury left Lubbock for the NFL, there’s a gaggle of talent remaining on the Red Raiders’ roster. The offensive players won’t benefit from the high-octane attack that produced NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes, but the defense won’t be forced to make a gazillion stops every game, either.

This is where Jordyn Brooks comes in. As a Red Raider, he’s pieced together one of the best defensive careers in school history. He led the team in tackles as a freshman in 2016 with 85 stops and in 2018 with 78 stops. His sophomore campaign wasn’t an unproductive one, though, as he still managed 89 total tackles, the most in his career in any single season.

Brooks is a solid linebacker, too, not in the he’s-a-decent-player sense, but solid like a rock. He’s listed at 6-foot-1 and 240 pounds, which would’ve made him one of the heavier linebackers in the 2019 NFL Draft class. He’ll likely trim down a bit for the draft process like most players do, but it’s comforting for NFL teams to know their linebacker can bang with the big guys in the trenches.

Playing in the Big 12 is both beneficial and harmful for linebackers, though. The league is so wide open that it gives evaluators an opportunity to see defenders in space, but it also gives evaluators an opportunity to see defenders in space. Those that simply can’t cut it get exposed, while the ones who can are thought highly of. He’s been a three-year starter, though, so Brooks pretty much is what he’s going to be at this point.