What is Jonathon Brooks' Ceiling?
After suffering ACL tears in consecutive seasons, what can fans expect from the once highly sought-after running back?
This is a big year for the Panthers 2024 Draft Class.
Xavier Legette has yet to live up to his first-round billing, Trevin Wallace will have an All-Pro linebacker next to him, and JT Sanders looks to bounce back after a disappointing sophomore season.
Perhaps the player with the most on the line from that class is running back Jonathon Brooks.
The former Longhorn was a highly sought-after player for Carolina, so much so that the team traded up to select him in 2024.
After a long recovery from his ACL tear in college, Brooks debuted against the Kansas City Chiefs. Unfortunately, after only nine carries through three games, Brooks would re-tear the same ACL (right knee), marking two tears in 13 months.
Subsequently, Brooks did not play at all during the 2025 season.
It’s always tough coming back from a major injury as a professional athlete, but Brooks’ case is one of the extremes. Having multiple ACL tears is not something seen often among NFL players.
Carolina fans aren’t strangers to a player with consecutive ACL tears. Franchise legend Thomas Davis tore his ACL in three straight seasons from 2009 to 2011. Davis eventually would come back even stronger and become the paragon of resilience and perseverance for an eventual Super Bowl team.
Like Davis before his return, Brooks has taken a full calendar year of rest and recovery. It certainly seems to have been worth it, as Brooks has attacked the spring/summer programs at full speed.
Brooks even hinted at adding some muscle during his non-football time, giving him an extra edge for when he returns.
That leads to the question of the day: What should the expectation for Jonathon Brooks look like?
It may not be a given that Brooks returns to his 2023 form, but if he does, the Panthers will be adding a real game-changer to the backfield.
Almost two years of no on-camera reps may have diminished fans’ knowledge of just how good Brooks is at full speed. For lack of a better term, he’s that dude.
Carolina hasn’t had a player in the room like this since Christian McCaffrey. I’m not saying Brooks will ever reach CMC’s heights, simply that Brooks can be a Pro Bowl-caliber player.
Just take a look at his stats. Below are the ten games in which Brooks was the featured player in the Longhorns’ backfield in 2023.
1139 rushing yards through ten contests. Not too shabby. Brooks also added 286 receiving yards on 25 receptions as well.
It isn’t a mistake that Brooks racked up these yards, either. The talented back possesses high-end speed, burst, and vision, allowing him to find the hole and go.
Brooks also displayed good contact balance, which might increase if he added a substantial amount of muscle from his college days.
From my own draft notes in 2024:
“Brooks is, in my opinion, the most complete running back in this class. He has little flaws and his strengths are outstanding. If he can pop back from his injury at full strength, Brooks should easily be a [starter] on most teams.”
It seems like Carolina agreed with this sentiment at the time, as they traded up to make him the first running back selected in the class.
The question remains, what should we expect from Brooks this season?
Carolina probably isn’t in any mood to immediately give Brooks the 20+ carries per game he saw in college.
Returning from injury aside, the Panthers also still employ Chuba Hubbard, who is a leader in the locker room and the running back room. The team also has 2025 4th round pick, Trevor Etienne, and signed veteran AJ Dillon this offseason.
Last season, the Panthers mainly operated with a two-back rotation featuring the aforementioned Hubbard and Rico Dowdle. To start the season, Hubbard got the lion’s share of the carries, but following Dowdle’s back-to-back 200-yard outbursts in Weeks 5 and 6, the balance started to shift.
In fact, from Week 9 and beyond, Hubbard only got double-digit carries twice (both against the Rams), while Dowdle was the featured player.
I think this is a good way to try to project Jonathon Brooks’ role for this upcoming season.
Considering the team will want to ramp up his workload, Brooks may have a similar start to the year as Dowdle did last season, mainly operating in relief roles for Hubbard.
With an early bye week this year (Week 5), Carolina can take their time and bring Brooks along at a comfortable pace. If Brooks looks good at NFL speed and within the Carolina offense, his workload will likely increase down the stretch.
Ultimately, if Brooks maintains a clean bill of health, the sky is the limit for the young running back. We have to remember that from a mileage standpoint, this is basically Brooks’ rookie season. He likely won’t get the majority of the available carries, but Brooks could hit the ground running.
If I were to put an actual numbered prediction out there for Brooks, I’d like to imagine he gets somewhere between 600-800 rushing yards and 4-6 touchdowns.
This might be on the low end if things turn out well, but this team values what Chuba Hubbard brings to the table and will give him the chance to lose the starting job.
Any production from Jonathon Brooks would be a win at this point. If he gets back to the player the Panthers traded up for in 2024, Carolina will be looking at a massive upgrade in the rush game.