Jordyn Brooks’ 2025 season has now been stamped with national recognition, and the Dolphins linebacker is starting to show up in some pretty serious company.
Brooks was unveiled Tuesday as No. 67 on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2026, a day after ESPN’s poll of league executives, scouts and coaches placed him ninth among linebackers. In that ESPN ranking, some voters had Brooks as high as third.
An anonymous NFL coordinator summed up the buzz this way: "Brooks has a skill set similar to Demario Davis when he was young -- really strong, fast, physical, can play in space, very good tackler."
The production behind the praise was impossible to miss. Brooks led the NFL with 183 tackles in 2025, and he added 13 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, one fumble recovery and one forced fumble.
That kind of year pushed him into a rare Dolphins lane. Brooks became just the third Miami linebacker - not counting edge rushers such as Jason Taylor or Cameron Wake - to earn first-team AP All-Pro honors, joining John Offerdahl in 1990 and Zach Thomas, who did it five times in his Hall of Fame career.
Miami’s second-team AP All-Pros at linebacker have been Thomas, Offerdahl and Nick Buoniconti.
So where does Brooks’ 2025 stack up in Dolphins history? The answer, based on the All-Pro nod and the numbers, is that you have to dig back to Thomas’ peak years to find seasons that compare. Kiko Alonso’s 2016 also belongs in the conversation, thanks to four fumble recoveries, two interceptions and a game-winning pick-six at San Diego that helped send the Dolphins to the playoffs.
With Brooks still waiting on his contract extension, here’s a look at how his 2025 season fits into a Dolphins linebacker top 10:
- Zach Thomas, 1998 - 137 tackles, 3 interceptions, 2 pick-sixes, 3 forced fumbles
- Zach Thomas, 2003 - 153 tackles, 3 interceptions, 10 passes defensed
- John Offerdahl, 1990 - 116 tackles, 1 sack, 1 interception
- Nick Buoniconti, 1972 - 146 tackles, 1 sack, 2 interception, second in NFL Defensive Player of the Year voting
- Jordyn Brooks, 2025 - 183 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks
- Kiko Alonso, 2016 - 115 tackles, 2 interception, 1 pick-six, 4 fumble recoveries
- John Offerdahl, 1986 - 135 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 interception, 2 forced fumbles
- Zach Thomas, 2006 - 165 tackles, 3 sacks, 1 interception, 2 forced fumbles
- Karlos Dansby, 2011 - 102 tackles, 8 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 1 interception
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