‘If you’re a leader, it’s in you.’ Dolphins linebacker Jordyn Brooks expected to step up
Jordyn Brooks had quite the first season in Miami.
Not only was Brooks an iron man, starting all 17 games, he led the team in tackles with 143, the third-highest total in Dolphins franchise history since 2005. If it weren’t for defensive tackle Zach Sieler’s second consecutive double-digit sack season, Brooks likely would have won Dan Marino MVP award. In spite of the success Brooks had on the field, he still believes there’s room for improvement.
“Focusing on the weaknesses,” Brooks said of his plan for organized training activities. “Really dissecting the things that I was good at and the things that I didn’t do too good at and focus on those things.”
Arguably the biggest area where Brooks will have to grow is in leadership. Defensive tackle Calais Campbell is gone. Offensive tackle Terron Armstead is gone. And cornerback Jalen Ramsey will likely be gone after Sunday, the day that will give the Dolphins some cap flexibility once the deal is done. Although Brooks believes he’s ready to step up as a leader, he understands it will take a collective effort.
“I wouldn’t call it a challenge — just got to go be the leader that I am,” Brooks said Wednesday. “I just feel like if you’re a leader, it’s in you. And it’s not just myself — we’ve got several other guys who will be helping to lead this defense this year.”
And he’s right. Players such as Sieler and cornerback Kader Kohou will be asked to do more as well. Sieler, specifically, shouted out Brooks when asked about how the team plans to fill the leadership void.
“Total blessing to have [Campbell] here last year and so just to be able to carry off that for me up front and Jordyn [Brooks] and the guys in the back, I’m just really excited to see how this rolls,” Sieler said May 7.
Originally drafted in 2020 by the Seattle Seahawks, Brooks had a great mentor in linebacker Bobby Wagner, one of the integral players of the heralded Legion of Boom defense in the early 2010s. The two seasons Brooks spent under the tutelage of Wagner were invaluable.
“He wasn’t a guy who talked all the time, but he’s very consistent in how he showed up to work,” Brooks said, later adding that “I definitely took some of his leadership style as far as being the same guy every day.”
After Wagner left for the Los Angeles Rams ahead of the 2022 season, Brooks spent the next two seasons in Seattle, putting together back-to-back seasons with at least 16 games played and more than 100 tackles. He joined the Dolphins in 2024 to be “on a winning team” that “could use my services.”
“He was like a big brother to me, and I think I got in the perfect situation to be able to learn under him and learn some routine things and how to prepare throughout the week to get myself ready to play an NFL game,” Brooks said of Wagner in March 2024 after signing with the Dolphins. “And then all the off-the-field type of things. It was great learning under him and playing beside him.”
Everything that Brooks learned under Wagner will be put to the test in 2025. Luckily, the Dolphins should have a solid pass rush thanks to the return of edge rushers Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips to go along with Sieler and 2025 first-round pick Kenneth Grant. His familiarity with Weaver’s system as well as the return of Tyrel Dodson, who started three games alongside Brooks in 2024, should also help.
“You got to be able to communicate, you got to know what everyone’s doing so so from that standpoint, he’s been great,” Brooks said of Dodson.
With the host of new faces on defense, Brooks should be one of the guys that can help set the standard in 2025.
“As a leader, you got to be the example and I think the young guys — all the young guys that we got in — they’ll follow behind us,” Brooks said.
This story was originally published May 29, 2025 at 3:17 PM.
