Panthers RB Jonathon Brooks said Tuesday that he's been fully cleared to participate in the offseason program, according to The Athletic's Joe Person. Brooks missed the entire 2025 season after tearing his right ACL for the second time in a 13-month span. Brooks added Tuesday that he feels "close to 100%."
Brooks has been one of our favorite fantasy football sleepers this offseason.
He was in the midst of a huge 2023 season at Texas before that first ACL tear. Across 10 games, he averaged 114 rushing yards and 1.0 rushing TDs on 6.1 yards per carry, plus 2.5 catches and 29 receiving yards. Brooks' 3.91 yards after contact and 0.33 missed tackles forced per attempt were both top-25 marks among 158 qualifying RBs. The Panthers made Brooks the first RB off the board in the 2024 draft, selecting him 46th overall.
Brooks remains a black box as a pro, but he's had a nice runout this offseason. Carolina lost RB Rico Dowdle to Pittsburgh and made A.J. Dillon the most significant addition to the backfield.
That leaves Brooks battling Chuba Hubbard and Trevor Etienne for snaps. Hubbard should be considered the odds-on favorite to open the season as lead back. But he wasn't very good last year, ranking 41st or worse among 51 qualifiers in yards per carry, rush yards over expected per attempt, and missed tackles forced per attempt.
If he's back to pre-injury form, Brooks is very capable of taking over this backfield. He's a priority target at his RB45 ADP.
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