Jordan Hicks

Understanding Jordan Hicks as a Football Reference Point

Jordan Hicks is a professional NFL linebacker. He was drafted by the Houston Texans in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL Draft, out of Texas. Over his career he has played for the Cincinnati Bengals, Pittsburgh Steelers, Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles, and most recently the Kansas City Chiefs, where he won Super Bowl MVP in February 2023. He is best known for his time in Baltimore, where he served as the starting middle linebacker and the defensive signal-caller for a unit that ranked among the league's best run defenses. When coaches and analysts reference Hicks, they are usually talking about a specific archetype: the downhill, gap-sound, fast-decision middle linebacker who can also cover. The modern NFL has moved toward smaller, faster linebackers who slide into coverage more often than those who line up over the A-gap and take on double teams. Hicks sits somewhere between those two worlds, which makes him a useful study case. If you are trying to learn from his game film, the first thing to notice is how he approaches run fits. He does not wait to see the play develop. He reads the guard's knee angle and the fullback's leverage, then commits inside or outside within one stride. I spent hours breaking down his 2018 Ravens film during a project on inside backers, and the thing that stood out was how consistently he diagnosed pull blocks. Most LBs get fooled by them because the puller's hip rotation hides the hole. Hicks usually reads the puller's shoulder, not his hips, and that is a detail that does not show up in basic breakdowns. It costs time to train that, but it is trainable.

His coverage drops are less polished. When he lines up in a box scheme and the offense throws quick slants, his lateral movement can be a problem against faster tight ends. The Ravens worked around this by using nickel packages and bringing safeties into the box so Hicks could stay over the middle without having to chase sideline-to-sideline. That is an important note for anyone trying to adapt his style to a younger roster: you cannot copy his exact snap counts or assignment depth without the same personnel underneath him.

Practical Steps for Breaking Down His Tape

If your goal is to study him effectively, here is the method I use and recommend. Start with all-down-and-distance situations from a single season. Hicks had his most complete body of work with Baltimore from 2017 through 2019, so I would begin there. Watch the plays in order, not as isolated highlights. That way you see how his pre-snap adjustments set up the snap and how his post-snap reads connect to the eventual outcome. Focus on three categories: run fits, pass coverage shells, and blitz timing. For run fits, pause before the ball is snapped and write down what you think the blocking scheme is. Then watch the play and compare. You will catch mistakes in your diagnosis faster that way. For coverage, pay attention to how he navigates traffic in the seam. He does not always have clean lanes, and his ability to shed a block while maintaining coverage responsibility is where his value lives. For blitz timing, notice how often he rushes from the A-gap versus dropping into a zone. Coaches use that rhythm to predict pressure packages, so understanding it gives you an edge. I ran into a specific problem once when compiling a breakdown for a local coaching staff: Hicks' tape from certain games had inconsistent camera angles because the primary broadcast feed cut away during third-and-long situations. The workaround was simple but annoying. I pulled the All-22 coach's film from publicly available league sources and synced it frame-by-frame with the broadcast footage using free editing software. That gave a clean, unobstructed view of his alignment and depth on every snap. It added about thirty minutes to the project, but it removed the biggest source of error in the analysis.

What to Keep in Mind When Applying Hicks' Model

The biggest mistake people make is assuming Hicks' success is purely physical. It is not. His speed is average for an NFL middle linebacker. What sets him apart is processing speed and communication. He calls the defensive alignment, adjusts to motions, and identifies pull blocks in real time. If you are trying to replicate his game at a lower level, you need to work on the mental side first. Film study, audibles, and recognition drills matter more than sprint times at that stage. Another limitation is durability. Hicks has dealt with various injuries throughout his career, including foot and knee issues that caused him to miss time. He is not a player you can rely on for forty-plus snaps per game without monitoring his workload. Coaches who try to force him into heavy snap counts without rest risk reducing his effectiveness rather than increasing it. If you are looking for more resources, the NFL's own film platform and sites like Pro Football Focus offer detailed breakdowns that include Hicks' graded plays. YouTube also has coach-approved clips from various team film rooms. I tend to rely on the raw All-22 footage because it shows every read, not just the ones the broadcasters choose to highlight. That gives a fuller picture of what he actually did on each down.

Key Takeaways from the Hicks Model

• Read the guard's knee and the puller's shoulder, not his hips, when diagnosing inside runs.
• Use pre-snap alignment notes to predict blitz and coverage tendencies before the ball is snapped.
• Sync All-22 film with broadcast tape when camera angles obscure key details.
• Do not replicate his snap count directly; adjust based on your roster's depth and fatigue management.

The takeaway is that Jordan Hicks is a reliable reference for anyone studying middle linebacker technique, but only if you look past the stat sheet and into the film. His value is in the details, not the headlines. That is where the actual learning happens.