Jonathon Brooks Fantasy Overview

A Lost 2025

Brooks missed the entire 2025 season after tearing his right ACL on December 8, 2024. That marked the second time Brooks tore that ACL in a 13-month span, with the first injury ending his college career.

Before Last Year

Brooks Closes College Career with a Bang

Brooks spent his first two seasons at Texas playing behind RBs Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson.

Those guys left for the NFL in 2023, clearing the way for a Brooks breakout. Across 10 games, he averaged 114 rushing yards and 1.0 rushing TDs on 6.1 yards per carry, ranking top 25 among 158 qualifying RBs in yards after contact per attempt, missed tackles forced per attempt, and Pro Football Focus rushing grade.

Brooks was also a weapon as a receiver, averaging 2.5 catches and 29 receiving yards per game. He ranked 21st among 112 qualifying RBs in yards per route and 12th in PFF receiving grade.

But Brooks’ big season ended on Nov. 11 with a torn right ACL.

That prevented him from working out prior to the 2024 draft. But it didn’t stop the Panthers from making him the first RB off the board as the 46th overall pick

Limited NFL Action

Brooks missed the first 10 games of his 2024 rookie season working back from that knee injury.

He debuted in Week 12 but carried just nine times for 22 yards across three games before re-tearing that right ACL.

2026 Opportunity & Projection

Projected Role & Competition

The Panthers’ backfield moves this offseason look like a vote of confidence in Brooks’ health. They lost Rico Dowdle to Pittsburgh in free agency and made no significant additions, leaving the room to Brooks, Chuba Hubbard, and Trevor Etienne.

Hubbard will head to training camp atop the depth chart, but he’s coming off a disappointing season that saw him lose the lead job to Dowdle. Hubbard mustered just 3.8 yards per carry and bombed in advanced metrics. Among 51 RBs with 90+ carries, he ranked:

• 45th in rush yards over expected per attempt
• 49th in yards after contact per attempt
• 50th in missed tackles forced per attempt
• 41st in Pro Football Focus rushing grade

Hubbard was much better in 2024, averaging 4.8 yards per carry and finishing top-9 among 47 qualifying RBs in rush yards over expected per attempt, yards after contact per attempt, and PFF rushing grade.

The version of Hubbard Carolina gets in 2026 will go a long way toward determining Brooks’ opportunity. The team at least sounds excited about Brooks’ prospects.

HC Dave Canales in January: “Jonathon Brooks is trending in the right direction. He’s flying around, he’s big, he’s beautiful-looking. He’s one of the more powerful, explosive athletes that we have. He’s gonna have an opportunity to compete to start for this team, just like a lot of other guys.”

GM Dan Morgan on Brooks in May: “He’s doing great. He worked his way back. Fully healthy now, feeling great, looking great out there. Cutting, running fast. So, obviously, we’re super excited about him and potentially where he could bring our offense. In the pass game and the run game, I think he’ll really help us out.”

Supporting Cast

QB Bryce Young returns for his fourth NFL season, limiting this offense’s upside. Young has mustered just 6.0 yards per attempt for his career, including 6.3 in each of the last two seasons. Carolina hasn’t finished better than 23rd in total yards or points in any of Young’s three seasons.

The Panthers also have a couple of question marks on the offensive line. The biggest is at LT, where Ikem Ekwonu is expected to miss the start of the season after rupturing a patellar tendon in the playoff loss to the Rams.

Carolina signed Rasheed Walker to a one-year, $4 million deal in free agency and spent the 19th pick of this spring’s draft on Monroe Freeling as potential fill-ins for Ekwonu

The Panthers also lost C Cade Mays to Detroit in free agency. He’s expected to be replaced by Luke Fortner, who has been subpar across four NFL seasons.

This unit could decline vs. 2025, especially early in the season without Ekwonu.

Coaching & Offensive Scheme

HC Dave Canales and OC Brad Idzik return for their third season running the Panthers offense. The results have been underwhelming:

• 2024: 29th in total yards, 23rd in points
• 2025: 27th in total yards, 27th in points

It’s been a good spot for RB fantasy production, though. Hubbard finished 13th at the position in PPR points per game in 2024. Last year, Hubbard was RB17 through Week 4, and Dowdle ranked 12th from Week 5 on.

Canales also helped Rachaad White to a RB10 finish as Buccaneers OC in 2023.

Expect the Panthers to lean on the run again in 2026, creating plenty of fantasy value in the backfield.

Paths To Ceiling

A healthy Brooks could quickly prove to be the best RB in Carolina. He has a chance to overtake Hubbard early in the season and be the lead back in a run-centric offense. That’d give Brooks a path to RB2 production.

Risk Factors

Brooks might never be the same player after a second right-ACL tear.

There’s also environmental risk here. Carolina hasn’t ranked better than 27th in total yards in any of Young’s three seasons.