Jonathon Brooks

Brooks lands in CAR with second-round NFL Draft capital in a wide-open backfield, with his toughest competition being Chuba Hubbard and Miles Sanders. Yes, he's recovering from an ACL tear, but as soon as he's ready to shoulder most of the load for this backfield, it should be his job. Brooks displayed a three-down skillset last year at Texas, ranking 21st in yards after contact per attempt and yards per route run while also finishing ninth in PFF elusive rating. Brooks could begin the season as an RB3/flex but finish it as a stretch run hero.

Take Jonathan Brooks' porous career college dominator with a grain of salt. He was splitting time behind two stud RBs at Texas in Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson until this past season when he finally got his crack as the Longhorns' RB1 job. He rushed for over 1,100 yards and 10 TDs with a solid 21% dominator rating.
But because Brooks missed time with an injury, his dominator rating suffers. His prorated dominator rating based on the games he was healthy in was a whopping 27% through the first 10 games of the 2023 college football season.
The 6-foot-0 and 207-pound RB reminded me of Tony Pollard after watching some of his game highlights.
The big concern for Brooks is he is coming off a torn ACL injury that he suffered in the middle of November. Before his injury, he ranked seventh in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) in rushing yards per game (114). Still, the list of rookie RBs entering the NFL that were productive coming off season-ending injuries is thin. Todd Gurley is the lone success, followed by a long list of major RB disappointments. Gurley was the 10th overall pick the year he was drafted.

The rumor was that Brooks (or any RB) wouldn't be drafted inside the top 50 picks in this year's draft. That turned out not to be the case, with Brooks being selected 46th overall by the Carolina Panthers.

Coming off the torn ACL injury, the reports have all been positive for Brooks regarding his availability for training camp. But as Carolina looks to play the long game, what should we realistically expect from Brooks in Year 1?

After all, the Panthers have two capable backs-Chuba Hubbard and Miles Sanders-under contract until at least the end of this season. Hubbard will be a free agent, while Sanders can be cut for a minimal dead cap hit.

To me, it would make logical sense for Brooks to take on a pseudo-redshirt season as he comes back from the ACL injury. The Panthers can ride out Hubbard and Sanders and then unleash Brooks in 2025-or at least for the start of the season, with Brooks getting ramped up as the weeks progress.

It's a shame Brooks went down because he would have likely been the easy dynasty fantasy RB1 in the class as a result. His 3.3 yards per snap ranks third-best in the class. He forced a missed tackle on 34% of his rushing attempts - second to only Bucky Irving in the 2024 RB draft class (37%). He was Pro Football Focus' (PFF) fourth-highest graded RB in the class this past season, with strong grades across the board as a receiver and pass blocker. There's also not a lot of tread on his tires, given his lack of usage in his first two years at college. He will be 21 years old in July.