Workhorse back. In six of his ten full games played last season, he had at least 20 carries. Brooks has a muscular, thick frame to handle the 15-20 touches per game at the next level. Brooks is a tough assignment for defenders. He combines fluid movements with strong contact balance and can get skinny through the hole. If it's him versus one defender in the second level, he's likely making that person miss. Shoestring tackles aren't going to bring him down. He bounces off defenders and keeps his legs driving with the ability to pick up 5-10 yards after first contact religiously. Brooks has the raw speed to hit dingers if he can get into the second level, but his second isn't elite. He'll probably run in the 4.5s in the 40-yard dash with strong short-area agility testing. His lateral movements at the line and in traffic are silky smooth, as he can teleport two feet sideways in a blink of an eye. Brooks was only tasked with being a check-down option in the passing game in 2023. He has soft hands but does have the occasional concentration drop. He transitions well, though, from receiver to rusher. His footwork in space and vision in traffic allows him to turn dump-offs into nice gains. Dynasty Outlook: Brooks had the purest run out with landing spot and draft capital. Carolina invested a second-round pick in their future bellcow. I'm not saying that Brooks explodes out of the gate with every down usage, but he will ascend to that role if not by the end of the 2024 season, definitely in 2025. Last year in Tampa Bay, under his watchful eye as the offensive coordinator, Rachaad White ranked seventh among running backs in opportunity share (75.3%). In the previous season, when he was still with Seattle as the team's quarterbacks coach, he watched from the sidelines as Kenneth Walker ranked 13th in opportunity share (65.3%). Miles Sanders and Chuba Hubbard are on the roster this season in Carolina to help the team ease Brooks in, but both players are likely out the door in 2025. Sanders can be cut with only a 2.9 million dead cap hit for the team to absorb. Hubbard is a free agent in 2025. Brooks should be gone no later than the 1.11 in any dynasty format. Everyone crapped on this running back class, but we are getting a bell cow out of it. Be happy. Rejoice.
by in FantasyMay 2, 2024