DMV Profile: Woodberry Forest Linebacker Jianni Woodson-Brooks

Taking a look at this underrated Virginia linebacker

Name: Jianni Woodson-Brooks

School: Woodberry Forest

Height & weight: 6-foot, 220-pounds

GPA: 3.52

Position: Inside linebacker

Offers: Air Force, Army, Brown, Bryant, Campbell, Columbia, Delaware, Elon, Fordham, Furman, Gardner-Webb, Georgetown, Harvard, Holy Cross, James Madison, Kent State, Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Lehigh, Navy, Penn, Princeton, Richmond, Towson, Villanova, William & Mary, Wofford, Yale, VMI

The time that Virginia linebacker Jianni Woodson-Brooks and his teammates spent studying the playbook as underclassmen helped set the 6-foot, 220-pound linebacker up for success on the gridiron. For Woodson-Brooks, it was the persistence off the field that helped put everything together on the field. “The biggest transition was coming in my sophomore year and having to fight for a spot against an older guy. Getting the playbook down and just trying to look sharper than him because he was older than me. The hardest part was staying calm because I can compete, but staying calm about the situation and have trust in my abilities,” Woodson-Brooks told All Terrapins.

“They gave us all the playbook and I just studied. I grabbed a couple of my close friends, even the guy I was competing with, we all took the time and said we’re getting this playbook down.”

The time spent off the field helped slow the game down as his instinctiveness came with time. “Going into my junior year, I just understood the game a lot better from a linebacker perspective.”

Woodson-Brooks attributes his athletic development to his time spent at Athletic Republic. Founded by former DeMatha strength and conditioning coach Mark McCain and St. Frances defensive backs coach Justin Winters, Woodson-Brooks made himself a frequent visitor at the P.G. County training facility where he focus on his athleticism.

“The main thing I wanted was getting my first step down, having a little more control over myself. Like trust my eyes if I see a hole open and go through it, no matter what. Just building confidence, basically. It was mainly Athletic Republic. A lot of what they do, working on your explosiveness and being able to move from point A and point B quickly, working on your first couple steps. That really helped me a lot.”

That helped Woodson-Brooks put it all together when he stepped onto the field as a junior, when the underrated linebacker began to put it all on tape. “I felt like I had a different level of body control. Aside from football and the technical stuff, just having control over my hips. I can just feel it was so different.” Woodson-Brooks had a chance to compare his development against his sophomore film once the tape was complete. That’s when he noticed the strides he made.

“Probably my ability to hit right and be strong, going into the runner’s chest, I feel like that was the best thing I showed. And just the ability to closing space between the tackler, like I got to show that instinctiveness. And my coverage. I only had one interception, but if you watch game-by-game, it was way different than my sophomore year.”

The 77 tackles, twelve tackles for loss, three pass breakups and interception helped provide him the springboard into the offseason, but an abnormal offseason forced athletes across the country to adapt. For Woodson-Brooks, nothing changed.

“Just keep working. Nothing new, just keep grinding when everyone else is sleeping.” That dedication to the craft is why Woodson-Brooks stands out on the trail as he falls in love with the process. His individual work has kept him ready to hit the ground running as a senior.

“Some other guys are bigger and taller than me and I know that, I just have a dog mentality. I train with the same energy that I play with. It’s me versus the rest of the competition, so just beat them.”