Texas Football: 5 best former Longhorns in the NFL in 2020
5. player. 32. Pick Analysis. Linebacker. Years Pro: 2015-Present. Jordan Hicks. Scouting Report
The former Texas football linebacker Jordan Hicks just got done with his fifth season in the NFL, and it might’ve been his best. He posted a team-high 150 combined tackles to go along with two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, 1.5 sacks, three interceptions, six pass deflections, 11.0 tackles for loss, and seven quarterback hits.
The approximate value that Hicks posted last season, at seven, was the second best of his career and most of his other individual stats were career-highs. The Arizona Cardinals started to use him a lot more frequently in the pass rush last season, sending him on blitz pressures 86 times. But he did have a career-best four quarterback knockdowns.
Even though Hicks went from a former Super Bowl Champion with the Philadelphia Eagles to a rebuilding team with head coach Kliff Kingsbury and the Cardinals, he still excelled. The Cardinals used him more frequently on multiple sides of the ball than Hicks ever did with the Eagles in his four years in the NFL previously.
Hicks played in 100 percent of the Cardinals defensive snaps last season, which showed incredibly stamina. He also played in more than 20 percent of the Cardinals special teams snaps, which was the first time he did that in his NFL career. Hicks also ranked third in the NFL last season in combined tackles and fifth in solo tackles.