Cat Scratch Reader
Hello CSR! We’re 24 Days away from the start of the Panthers 2025 regular season! That means we’re here to break down #24 for the 2025 Panthers: running back Jonathon Brooks!
Brooks came to Carolina a highly touted prospect out of Texas, as the Panthers elected to take him with the 46th overall pick in the 2nd round of the 2024 NFL Draft, a pick they traded up to get. Brooks was coming off a fantastic junior season in college, only problem being he tore his ACL late in his final season of college. Still, the Panthers took a gamble on a running back many touted as a first round prospect had he not unfortunately been injured late in the prior college season. Brooks spent most of 2024 on the PUP list, but finally got activated in November of his rookie season. Unfortunately, about a month later, Brooks tore the same ACL again, ending his 2024 season and eventually ruling him out of 2025 altogether.
Looking forward, Brooks is going to spend 2025 recovering, which is probably the best thing for him, even if the Panthers make a (somewhat improbable) playoff push. The Panthers brought in free agent Rico Dowdle on a 1 year deal in 2025 and drafted Trevor Etienne in the 4th round of the Draft this year, among a few returning names such as Raheem Blackshear. So while losing the high 2nd round pick from 2024 once again certainly stinks, the running back room will likely be unaffected in the short term. For 2026 and beyond, it’ll be interesting to see if Brooks can bounce back to the kind of player he was in college. As a rookie prospect, he appeared to be a guy without a lot of tread on his tires despite the unfortunate ACL injury. Now, he’s a guy who will have to really push hard to overcome the “injury-prone” tag to reclaim a career. But, Carolina appears to be willing to give him that chance. And we’ve seen crazier things, such as Thomas Davis recovering from three of the same type of injuries.
Personally, putting on my optimist hat, I think Brooks could be an excellent contributor, but that will all have to do with his health and recovery. I don’t expect Carolina to put any major stock in him as a primary candidate in 2026, but I believe they will give him every opportunity to become part of a nice running back stable, and give him an opportunity to show he’s got plenty of ball left. We’ll see, of course.
What do you think of Brooks’s future? Sound off below in the comments. And, as a note to Brooks, I hope you have a speedy recovery and are doing well in this unfortunate fork in the road for your career. KEEP POUNDING!
