Panthers' Jonathon Brooks emerges as early training camp standout

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Rowan Fisher-Shotton

By Rowan Fisher-Shotton

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When the Carolina Panthers took Jonathon Brooks in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft, expectations were high.

He was still rehabbing from a torn ACL suffered at Texas in 2023, but he exploded in his final season with the Longhorns, rushing for 1,139 yards and 10 touchdowns on 187 carries, averaging 6.1 yards per carry along with 286 receiving yards in just 10 games before the injury.

It was a breakout year and his first as Texas' starting running back after spending his first two seasons playing behind Bijan Robinson. At 6-foot and around 210 pounds, Brooks has the frame to handle a lead-back role in the NFL, and that's what he was drafted to be.

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Recovering from the torn ACL, Brooks didn't make his NFL debut until Week 12 against the Kansas City Chiefs, where he touched the ball just twice for seven yards. He racked up 18 rushing yards and 23 receiving yards the following week on nine touches, only to tear the same ACL one week later against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Brooks was placed on the physically unable to perform list (PUP) in May 2025 and missed all of last season recovering from another torn ACL.

But with training camp officially underway in Carolina, Brooks is reportedly the player generating the most buzz.

"If there was one standout winner from Tuesday’s practice, it was the third-year running back who is taking part in his first training camp season of his career: Jonathon Brooks," wrote Alex Zietlow of the Charlotte Observer.

"Brooks, the second-round draft pick in 2024, looked fast and was cutting confidently all across the field Tuesday. He was even getting involved in some of the aggression that was in the air — stiff-arming Corey Thornton while the cornerback was busy trying to punch the football out of his grasp for several seconds after the play was done."

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Jonathon Brooks of the Carolina Panthers.

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Chuba Hubbard has been the Panthers' lead back for a few years now, and is still under contract through the 2028 season, signing a four-year, $33 million extension with Carolina in November 2024.

But last season, it was Rico Dowdle who emerged as the best running back in the room, leading the team with 1,076 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns on 236 carries. Yet surprisingly, the organization led Dowdle walk in free agency, with the running back signing a two-year deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

That leaves a massive void somebody will need to fill this season.

Hubbard has taken over that role before and is still just 27 years old. But the opportunity is there for Brooks to steal the job and emerge as one of the best young backs in football, which is what many projected him to be when the Panthers drafted him two years ago.

After back-to-back ACL tears limited him to just three games in his first two NFL seasons, Brooks finally has his first real opportunity to show Carolina what he can do.