Jonathon 

Brooks

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Brooks was the clear top running back prospect in a weak running back class. He ranked fifth when comparing the class to 2022 and 2023. He wasn’t given a lot of opportunities in 2021 and 2022 while playing behind both Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson, but he was excellent when given the chance. He took over the backfield in 2023 and graded well but wasn’t as efficient. He was generally elite in ideal situations and struggled when the situations weren’t in his favor.

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The Panthers are expected to remain one of the NFL's worst teams again this season. There is no need to rush Brooks back from his ACL injury. Even when he is ready to play, he might not be 100%. The more time he misses during training camp and the preseason, the harder it will be to trust him with a high workload in the offense immediately. On the flip side, we’re often picking rookies for what they can do the second half of the season rather than early on, and it’s certainly possible Brooks will work his way to a full-time role by December.

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Brooks should eventually have a feature role in the Panthers offense, but we don’t know when that will happen. As of the start of training camp, his ADP is RB26, but we could see some pretty significant changes from now to the start of the season depending on when Brooks can start practicing with the team.