Karl Brooks Is Poised For A Takeover In 2024
With a strong foundation built from his rookie season, Karl Brooks is set to take his game to the next level in 2024.
Karl Brooks was a top-ten rookie in sacks, QB hits, hurries, batted passes, and stops. He was Green Bay’s highest-rated defender in the playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers.
Brooks surpassed expectations as a sixth-round pick. In February, he revealed during the Cheeseheads Brazil podcast that he had hoped for a Day 2 draft selection. When he finally got the draft call on day 3, a sense of relief washed over him.
He saw action in 378 defensive snaps last season, accumulating 25 total pressures, 4 sacks, 4 QB hits, and 17 hurries. Additionally, he ranked second among rookie defensive linemen in deflected passes. Brooks also tallied 12 tackles for loss and forced a turnover. Heading into year 2, these numbers could significantly increase, along with his playing time.
During a play against the Los Angeles Chargers, LA adjusted their protection scheme to Brooks' side. Despite this, he found himself in a one-on-one situation and effortlessly maneuvered past the right guard to sack Justin Herbert. This particular play highlights one of Brooks' best traits: offensive linemen usually have a hard time getting their hands on him, and Brooks is often able to generate pressure from the interior of the offensive line, which is a nightmare for quarterbacks.
The Packers are shifting to a 4-3 defense under Jeff Hafley, who has emphasized his desire for a defense that aggressively attacks both the ball and the line of scrimmage. This more assertive scheme aligns well with Brooks' strengths as a pass rusher, offering him greater opportunities to disrupt plays in the backfield. Moreover, Green Bay's upcoming schedule features matchups against 5 out of the 10 teams with the lowest pass-blocking grades and 4 out of the 10 teams with the lowest run-blocking grades from last year. With 25 pressures and 4 sacks in 2023, it wouldn't be surprising if Brooks were able to double his production.
Brooks also benefits from rotating on a robust defensive line. Kenny Clark is coming off a career-high 7.5 sacks last year, while Devonte Wyatt totaled 45 pressures and 5.5 sacks last season. Rashan Gary and Preston Smith combined for 17 sacks and 105 pressures. Opposing offenses will need to gameplan for all these players, undoubtedly leaving Brooks with favorable one-on-one matchups. Moreover, it will be interesting to see how Hafley plans to use him. Will Brooks play more as a defensive end? Will he be lining up inside on 3rd-and-long situations? The unpredictability of how Brooks will be used could be one of the x-factors for his second-season leap.
Karl Brooks is poised to be even more disruptive in his second year, benefiting from greater familiarity with NFL speed and a system that accentuates his aggressive style. Packers fans have every reason to believe he will emerge as a reliable starter in Green Bay's lineup by the end of 2024.
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Felipe is a Brazilian Packers writer covering the #GoPackGo for CheeseheadTV, Zone Coverage, and Packers Talk. Additionally, he contributes to Cheeseheads Brazil.
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Comments (11)
Matt
June 25, 2024 at 02:51 pm
Nice prediction, I hope it will work this way and there are really good arguments for Brooks to develop. But we've been here before. "Opposing offenses will need to gameplan for all these players" is the storyline for all 32 teams during the offseason :)
Ya_tittle
June 25, 2024 at 03:08 pm
Gute has been fantastic at finding late round gems.
splitpea1
June 25, 2024 at 03:46 pm
Brooks will probably have to be used more as a defensive end if he's going to double his production because they're not going to be using three IDLs much in the new scheme. I would think Ironman Kenny and Wyatt get most of the snaps inside, with some Slaton mixed in on running downs. I'm also interested to see how Wooden fits into all of this and whether or not he is more than just a depth piece and ST contributor.
All the defensive linemen sound very pleased that they'll get the chance to be more aggressive versus getting bogged down in reading/reacting first before they're able to make a play.
Coldworld
June 26, 2024 at 09:08 am
Lots of questions about how the personnel and usage will shake out under Haffley. I suspect that we will see Brooks at DE, but I’m still not at all clear how the snaps will be apportioned and where for guys like Brooks, Van Ness and others.
Leatherhead
June 25, 2024 at 04:14 pm
I think so, too.
That 94 shows up when you watch. He wins against his man, and he has a quick closing burst. Our Dline is going to be overwhelming.
CheeseEdWest2
June 25, 2024 at 05:04 pm
The new defensive look may feature fewer IDL's but that means a strong, rested rotation. Gotta think winning is a higher priority than personal stats...
Leatherhead
June 25, 2024 at 05:47 pm
Clark, Wyatt, Slaton, Brooks. Slaton will be first down/short yardage. The other three will rotate in and out, keeping fresh people on the field, all the way to the 4th quarter, for 17 games.
GregC
June 25, 2024 at 05:42 pm
It's hard to see Brooks getting a lot more playing time considering that the other DTs were all pretty good last year too. Brooks may have moved ahead of Colby Wooden, but not Kenny Clark or Devonte Wyatt. Playing Brooks at DE is an interesting idea, but wouldn't it be better having the DEs play DE? I don't think he's as good a DE as Gary, Smith, or Van Ness. Maybe he could take some snaps from Enagbare, but Enagbare is pretty good too, and he's been playing exclusively on the edge for the past two years.
Brooks will be a big part of the rotation for sure, but how many more snaps can he get? I'm thinking not many more. This is a good problem to have, though. I'm not complaining.
mnbadger
June 25, 2024 at 10:11 pm
it's never bad to have too many good players.
Bears' fans have no idea what this means.
GPG!
greengold
June 26, 2024 at 06:40 am
The only surprising thing to me about Karl Brooks was that he was still there for the Green Bay Packers to select him at Pick #179 of the 6th Round in 2023. Unbelievable.
He was the #90 prospect in The Sporting News' Top 100 last year. He was also ranked the #99 Overall Prospect by PFF in the 2023 NFL Draft, and had Brooks ranked as the highest graded edge defender in his class, beating out Lucas Van Ness with a 93.0 overall grade in 2022. Brooks' 69 pressures beat out Will Anderson Jr, the #3 overall selection.
I was stunned that we got him, thinking immediately, "We won the draft." Could not have been happier...
With limited rookie reps, Brooks delivered in 2023, earning a PFF pass-rushing grade >70 in 7 games. He had multiple pressures in 10 of his games played last season. He also broke up 4 passes, as many as both Owens & Savage combined. Of the 13 interior defenders who played at least 100 pass-rushing snaps last season, Brooks ranked 5th in pressures, and 5th in pass rush win rate.
Karl Brooks had every tool in the drawer as a rookie coming into last year's draft. Here's my notes on him:
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Pick #179 DT Karl Brooks - Bowling Green (#90 Overall TSN.)
6-3 303 5.08 7.63 3cone, 8’9” broad, 28 bench
Hustle defender with good bull rush. Very quick to react and locate the ball. Excellent balance with strong, flexible core. Rarely ends up on ground.
MASSIVE PRODUCTION: 2022 32 tackls, 43 hurries, 5 QB Hits, 12 sacks
*Faced lesser competition. Dominated.
Quick first step to build momentum. Instinctive/intuitive working off blockers, knowing how/when to counter. Hugely respected player and 2 time Team Captain.
STOUT. CORE. QUICKS. SPEED. PURSUIT. BALANCE. STRONG. NIMBLE. LEVERAGE.
Career stats: 167 Tckls, 46 TFL, 27.5 sacks, 1 INT, 5 PD, 1 FR, 5 FF.
jannesbjornson
June 26, 2024 at 07:18 pm
I thought he would go in the second, no lower than a three pick. He dominated as a DE in the MAC over the past three years. Football players standout. I don't care about your pedigree. We'll see if Hafley can set this guy up for pro-bowl recognition. Belichek would love this guy. A true 4-3 guy and toss in some 5 to 6 stacked fronts. Let Cooper loose. I have Hopper starting some where down the line; maybe game one?