Panthers Rookie Profile: Jonathon Brooks

Taking a look at what the Carolina Panthers newest running back brings to the table – in short, a lot.

When Dave Canales says he is going to be stubborn about running the football, he seems like a man speaking with conviction. With Chuba Hubbard entering the last year of his rookie deal and Miles Sanders’ contract allowing for him to be released with a relatively minor $2.9 dead cap hit after the upcoming season, the Carolina Panthers were searching for a long-term answer.

They hope to have found it, after trading up to the 46th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft to select Texas Longhorns running back Jonathon Brooks. Brooks decided to forgo his senior year and declare early, entering the league at just 20 years old.

Brooks spent his first two seasons at Texas backing up NFL talents Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson until he received the bell cow role entering his third season. Brooks took his opportunity and ran with it, posting a statline of 187 carries for 1,139 yards and 10 touchdowns over 10 games.

While the rushing production is top-notch, Brooks also produced in the receiving game, catching 25 balls for 286 yards and another touchdown. It might not seem like much, but there were only so many targets to go around between Brooks and fellow 2024 NFL draftees Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell, Jordan Whittington and Ja’Tavion Sanders.

Brooks measures in at 6’0 and 216lbs, but due to an ACL tear suffered in November he was unable to participate in any drills, so there are no other athletic testing numbers available. Recent reports regarding this injury have been positive, as it is described as a clean ACL tear with no damage to any of the surrounding structures in his knee. Not ideal, but the recovery timeline and process is relatively straightforward and indications are that Brooks will be available for training camp. To what capacity he will be able to participate remains unclear.

Despite being young, all who are asked about Jonathon’s personality and character have done nothing but heap praise towards him. Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones went as far as saying he was the best player interview he has had in his thirty years as an owner.

Texas Head Coach Steve Sarkisian made it a point to have Brooks see a play during the Big 12 Championship a month after he tore his ACL, as a tribute to what Brooks meant to the team.

After the pick was made, Head Coach Dave Canales highlighted his favorite aspects of Brooks game – including his versatility, vision, contact balance, and acceleration.

The one aspect to Brooks’ game that could be huge for the Carolina Panthers is his ability to consistently win one-on-ones at the second level. When Brooks reaches the second or third level of the defense with just a safety to beat, he consistently wins and turns a 15 yard gain into a 50 yard gain. Below are a few examples of Brooks making a defender miss and creating an explosive play.

While current starter Chuba Hubbard has shown great improvement during his tenure as a Carolina Panther, he still frequently targets the safety at the second level instead of trying to make them miss, limiting his ability to create explosive plays for the offense. It is part of the reason his longest run last year was only 22 yards.

PFF’s signature “Elusive Rating” metric was created to measure the success and impact of a runner with the ball independent of the blocking. In the 2023 NFL season, Chuba’s rating was 50.7, which was about the 42nd best in the NFL (minimum 20 carries). During the 2023 NCAA season, Brooks managed a 140.3 rating which was 9th among the 116 running backs in the 2024 draft class, according to PFF (minimum 20 carries). Comparing metrics between NFL and College is a usually a fool’s errand, but the takeaway here is that elusiveness is not currently a strength in Chuba’s NFL playstyle, but it should be for Brooks if his game translates well to the next level.

The common issue that prevents rookie running backs from seeing the field is a lack of pass protection ability, since coaches don’t like risking the health of most important position in sports. In Brooks’ case, he’s actually an above average pass blocker at the collegiate level, showing ability to recognize and react to blitzers, but his technique will need to be improved to succeed at the NFL level. He had a solid pass blocking grade of 77.0 in 2023 according to PFF, and doesn’t lack the willingness or size to be effective at the next level.

As a receiver, he has shown good hands to catch the ball naturally and his elusiveness translates after the catch. According to PFF, he was in the 89th percentile in yards per route run, and the 91st percentile in missed tackles forced per reception. He has not been used much beyond swing passes or screens, but nothing about his profile suggests that he won’t be able to expand his route tree beyond what he was asked to handle in Texas.

Brooks does not have any glaring weaknesses to his game, he excels in both zone and gap schemes, blocks well, provides a decent pass-catching target and already shows the maturity and leadership you don’t see in many NFL veterans. He even has adequate NFL level power for his size and will probably add more as he develops under an NFL training regimen. However, I would hesitate to say that he has any truly elite traits like what pushed Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs into the first round last year. Granted, he’s still very young and could very well develop one of these traits down the line.

All things considered, I think it is safe to get excited about the player that Jonathon Brooks can become, assuming he stays healthy. Given the role that Canales envisions, and the stable of mauling offensive lineman blocking for him, there isn’t much stopping Brooks from being the next consistent 1,000 yard back for the Carolina Panthers.