Meet Browns new linebacker: Jordan Hicks

The linebacker room this year will look a lot different

The defensive unit with the Cleveland Browns is at an elite level. At least, that’s what occurred last year with a slew of new faces, the hiring of a new defensive coordinator in Jim Schwartz, and a stellar year by DE Myles Garrett who completed the year as the league Defensive Player of the Year.

And so, Schwartz will begin this year’s campaign with one goal: to remain on top.

How does the repeat happen? Retaining Schwartz as DC was a necessary start. Next, it all begins with the right players. This all sounds pretty simple, but as Browns fans, we all know that is anything but. How many blue-chip defensive players have donned an orange and brown uniform and were paid like a king, then sadly disappointed season after season? Does Vegas have odds on this statement?

During the off-season, the Browns had five linebackers on their free-agent list. Two starters, MLB Anthony Walker and OLB Sione Takitaki both inked deals with other AFC teams already.

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Left on the active roster include Tony Fields, JOK, and last year’s undrafted free agent rookies Mohamoud Diabate and Charlie Thomas. Cleveland usually keeps six linebackers on the roster and then depends on a safety or two to play this position in certain formations and schemes. Losing both Walker and Takitaki has opened a huge door for both Fields and Diabate.

GM Andrew Berry signed former Minnesota Vikings linebacker Jordan Hicks on the first day of the tampering period of free agency on March 11 to a two-year deal.

Hicks, age 31, is going into his 10^th NFL season and is one word: highly productive. Okay, that’s two words.

Beginnings

Born in Colorado, Hicks was raised in a lot of places such as South Carolina, Colorado Springs, Indiana, and finally, the State of Ohio. His parents split up when Hicks was very young and he raised by his mom along with his sister Taylor.

He told Philadelphia Magazine:

“She’s the strongest woman I know. Raised my sister and myself on her own. It didn’t matter what she had to go through, what she was going through, she continued to work for us and fight. There were times she was working two jobs, three jobs, whatever it may have been, to make sure she provided for us. She’s a huge part of where I’m at today.”

His father was a high school basketball coach. His mom, on the other hand, was an intelligent woman who was career-driven. She eventually was an executive with the Pillsbury Company and then Revlon. Each of these career bumps meant another relocation. The move from South Carolina to Ohio was especially upsetting because Hicks envisioned him going to play basketball at the University of North Carolina and following in his childhood idol steps, Michael Jordan. Football was an afterthought and something he did until it was basketball season.

He was good on the hard court and had been playing on the varsity squad since he was a freshman. After graduation, he set the district career records for steals (170) and most varsity basketball games played (87).

It just so happened that the defensive coordinator for his high school football team was a former NFL safety who changed the way Hicks played defense. A pro-style scheme was installed which allowed Hicks and the rest of his defensive teammates to see the game in a whole new way and to understand why things happened instead of just reacting.

What also helped Hicks was the fact that he held a 3.5 GPA which enabled him to learn quickly and be able to instruct his other teammates.

Hicks played basketball and was a three-year starter in West Chester Township, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati. As a freshman, he was moved up to the varsity in both sports.

His high school coach, Larry Cox, explained to Philadelphia Magazine:

“I just thought to myself, this kid’s got something about him. I only move a kid up if I think he can play varsity. Jordan’s the only one I’ve ever felt that about.”

After his senior year in 2009, Hicks was the Number 1 football recruit in Ohio regardless of position and the Number 1 OLB in the nation. 247Sports ranked him a 5-star recruit. After his high school career had concluded, he had 216 total tackles, 36 tackles for loss, three forced fumbles, four picks, 8.5 sacks, 10 batted passes, and scored one defensive touchdown.

From there, he collected shelves of accolades. He was elected Two Time First Team All-State, and as a senior, he was named the Butler County Journal-News Butler County Defensive Player of the Year, Greater Miami Conference Co-Athlete of the Year, Division I Associated Press All-Ohio Co-Defensive Player of the Year, and All-Southwest District Defensive Player of the Year.

Hicks was named All-American by Parade Magazine, USA Today, and EA Sports. He also won the High School Dick Butkus Award given to the nation’s best linebacker.

As the #1 rated player in the state, a slew of major colleges recruited Hicks including Alabama, Texas, Florida, Cincinnati, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, South Carolina, USC, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Hicks was the very first video recruiting call ever from Alabama head coach Nick Saban via a Skype call. Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh came and watched him play a high school basketball game. Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel had built a relationship with him. Hicks only took three visits to Ohio State, Texas, and Florida and chose Texas as his new college home coached by Mack Brown.

Texas put him right to work as he played in every game his first two seasons. As a freshman, he was named Honorable Mention Big-12 Conference Freshman Team. He was also named Academic All-Big 12 as a sophomore. For these two seasons, he had 71 total tackles and two sacks.

Going into his junior year, he sustained his first injury with a hip issue. This earned a medical redshirt to preserve a year of eligibility if he chose to do so. As a junior, he had 43 tackles in only four games because of a ruptured left Achilles tendon.

Just as in high school, the senior season for Hicks was magic. He ended up with 116 total tackles, 13 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, two batted passes, and two interceptions with 13 starts. He was selected Second Team All-American and Second Team All-Big 12. He also made the Big-12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll seven times, was named First Team All-Big 12 Academic Team, and was named to the National Football Foundation Hampshire Honor Society.

Hicks was a finalist for the Butkus Award and the Bednarik Award while working on a master’s degree. He gained a Senior Bowl invite. Needless to say, Hicks is extremely intelligent as well as a productive player.

Onto the NFL

Despite an exceptional college career, Hicks (6’-1”, 236 pounds) did not hear his name called until the #84 pick in the third round of the 2015 NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. The defensive coordinator? Jim Schwartz. By 2017, the Eagles were ranked the fourth-best defense. That team won Super Bowl LII 41-33 over the New England Patriots.

Hicks became the starter in only his second season. That year he had 85 total tackles and six tackles for loss among other stats. In Week 7 of the next season, he suffered a season-ending Achilles injury and found the IR list his new home.

He played in every game in 2018 with 12 starts and finished the season with 91 total tackles, three sacks, 11 tackles for loss, six QB hits, one fumble recovery, and five pass deflections in 12 games started. His 40 time is 4.68.

After his four years in Philly, the Eagles decided to allow Hicks to test the free-agent market. On March 15, 2019, Hicks signed with the Arizona Cardinals on a four-year, $36 million contract, with $20 million guaranteed and a $12 million signing bonus.

In his first season with the Cardinals, he busted out to the tune of 150 total tackles with 11 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, seven QB hits, and one fumble recovery. He was nine tackles from being the league’s top tackler and finished ranked #3 overall. In the next year, Hicks had 118 total tackles.

The veteran inside linebacker was once named NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in Arizona’s 33-22 road win over the Chicago Bears. Hicks had a game-high 13 total tackles, 2.0 sacks, two tackles for loss, and two QB hits.

The franchise drafted LB Zaven Collins in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft. The year before LB Isaiah Simmons was drafted with the eighth pick. At this point, Hicks had two years left on his contract and was elected team captain. Collins was obtained to take his place, yet Hicks won the starting MLB spot in training camp and started all 17 games with 116 tackles.

Despite having 384 tackles in three seasons with Arizona, a first-round draft pick is chosen to play, not sit. Oddly enough, on March 9, 2022, Hicks was released. Having two first-rounders at linebacker in all likelihood forced this move as the Cardinals saved $6.5 million in cap space.

At the time, Arizona GM Steve Keim stated:

“Jordan Hicks did a great job this year, especially under the circumstances he was in. Jordan was a guy who knew the defense inside and out. We benefited from that because of the complexity of some of the things that we were doing. But moving forward, there’s no doubt that we have to get those young kids involved more.”

Anytime a team has a first-round draft pick at any position, they want to maximize that high-round pick sooner rather than later.

It only took six days for Hicks to find employment as the Minnesota Vikings inked him to a two-year deal. He started all 17 games for a team that made the 2023 playoffs.

He did suffer a leg contusion in November which led to a procedure to address compartment syndrome. What happened was he took a hit to his shin during a routine tackle and he assumed it was just another bruise, like any other game. At halftime, his leg began to swell and he was getting weak. Hicks did go back into the game without telling medical personnel of his situation, but while cutting as he was attacking the ball carrier, he nearly fell without any contact. This action forced him to seek medical attention.

After a short trip into the sideline tent, they sent him directly to the training room. Before long, Hicks was in great pain and curled up.

Hicks told the Butler County Journal-News:

“It is the deepest, darkest ache you can probably imagine.”

The team’s medical staff diagnosed him with compartment syndrome which is a buildup of pressure around the muscles caused by internal bleeding or swollen tissues that can cause severe damage or even death if left untreated. The training staff immediately sent Hicks to the hospital and within 15 minutes of his arrival, he was in emergency surgery. The hospital surgeon cut his leg open and left it to air out for four days. He has the scar as a reminder.

He was placed on IR but activated in late December and played out the remainder of the season.

With the Vikings, he started 17 games with 129 total tackles in his first year with the club and 107 total tackles in the second year. His Pro Football Focus grade last season was 74.6.

Hicks and his wife Ivana have three children. Hicks was inducted into the Lakota Athletic Hall of Fame in 2022. His Twitter handle is @JordanHicks.

What should the Browns expect from Hicks?

Take a look at his tackling numbers in the past six seasons: 107, 129, 116, 118, 150, and 91. What do these stats indicate? Production. A play-maker. A man on a mission. Tackling machine. He is also a problem-solver and goes out of his way to avoid drama.

Hicks explained those actions with Philadelphia Magazine:

“Say I go to Miami and train. That’s a lot of temptation. That’s a lot of unknown in that down time. I go back to Cincinnati; I know what I’m getting into. I’m either going to be hanging out with my mom, hanging out with my boys, or chilling at the house. There’s not much you can get into there.”

Hicks will slide right into the middle linebacker spot vacated by Walker most likely. And get this: in his early years, he played within Schwartz’s structure, so unless there are some new wrinkles or scheme changes, he already knows the system from Day 1.

He is also a leader, a seasoned veteran, and has been elected team captain before. Instantly he will wear the green dot. The best thing to do is to challenge Hicks because he is one of the most competitive people employed by the Browns.

The Cleveland area will benefit in that Hicks is a disciplined humanitarian.

This all began in high school when a childhood friend, Greg Osinski, was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. Hicks and other friends would accompany Osinski to Special Olympics events and at lunch with him every day despite him being bound in a wheelchair. This experience gave him an interest in helping others.

While with Arizona, Hicks and his wife, both Christians, matched up to $100,000 of donations made to a COVID-19 fund during the pandemic.

Hicks explained this action with ArizonaSports.com:

“They’re helping people get meals on the table, helping with rent and mortgages and you name it they are doing it. We’ve thought of a bunch of different options and the best way to do it in our opinion for us was to give through the church.”

In Minnesota, Hicks partnered with “Jeremiah Program” which is an organization that works toward disrupting generational poverty for single mothers and their children, two generations at a time. The fact that Hicks grew up with a single mom enabled him to seek out this charity.

And for the duration of his career, Hicks has been involved with “International Justice Mission” which is a global organization that protects people in poverty from violence.