As the Panthers open training camp, they’re hoping Jonathon Brooks is ready to start paying some dividends. It’s early, but it’s looking like he’ll begin the season as their second-string tailback.
Carolina liked Brooks enough back in 2024, recall, that they made him the first running back selected in the draft, even though he suffered a torn ACL late the previous season (at Texas). He’s been hurt for most of this first two seasons, playing in only three games.
“Really looking forward to, just the hard work that JB has had to do over the last couple of years to get him to this point,” says Dave Canales. “He feels great. He feels strong. He looks fast; he looks like the guy that I remember, and I’m really excited for that. But more so just, for a guy to go through things and to be able to have the emotional and mental resiliency to go through that training twice, to get himself back, this is a celebration, and you can feel the gratitude in him; you can feel the focus and how important this opportunity is for him.”
The Panthers lost Rico Dowdle in the offseason, so they’ve got a void at running back. Chuba Hubbard is their starter, but they don’t have much else – they used a mid-round pick last year on Travis Etienne’s younger brother, who’s a smaller back.
If Brooks is healthy, he should factor into their plans, maybe heavily. Given the attrition rates at the position, it’s unlikely that Hubbard will be starting all 17 games (no knock on Hubbard, but it’s tough for anyone to go the distance at the position). And if Brooks can get back to something close to what they were hoping he’d be, he could maybe work his way into a larger role – Dowdle supplanted Hubbard last year.
If we’re in a league where about half of the No. 2 tailbacks are getting picked, then I would be willing to throw a late-round pick at Brooks.
In general, however, it’s rare for a running back to not do much in his first two seasons, then develop into a viable player. In the 32-team era, 28 running backs have been chosen with top-100 picks and finished with less than 400 total yards in their first two seasons. Only two of those players ever ranked higher than 50th in fantasy production in a season (using PPR scoring): Christine Michael and Justin Fargas.
Fargas ran for 1,009 yards one year for the Raiders. Michael Had a couple of 100-yard games for the Seahawks. Michael Robinson spent eight years in the league, with a Pro Bowl, but didn’t handle the ball much while playing fullback.
The Packers have a running back similar to Brooks (MarShawn Lloyd has been hurt for most of his first two seasons) and the Steelers didn’t use Kaleb Johnson much as a rookie after his head-scratching error on a kickoff return early in the season.
| SLOW STARTING RUNNING BACKS | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Pk | G | Run | Rec | Tot | TD | Best |
| 2004 | B.J. Askew, NYJ | 85 | 32 | 32 | 12 | 44 | 0 | 86 |
| 2004 | Musa Smith, Balt. | 77 | 20 | 79 | 31 | 110 | 2 | 53 |
| 2004 | Artose Pinner, Det. | 99 | 12 | 273 | 112 | 385 | 2 | 52 |
| 2004 | • Justin Fargas, Oak. | 96 | 22 | 329 | 70 | 399 | 1 | 24 |
| 2006 | Eric Shelton, Car. | 54 | 9 | 23 | 6 | 29 | 0 | 142 |
| 2006 | Ryan Moats, Phil. | 77 | 15 | 347 | 7 | 354 | 3 | 50 |
| 2007 | Kenny Irons, Cin. | 49 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- |
| 2007 | Brian Calhoun, Det. | 74 | 11 | 54 | 55 | 109 | 0 | 125 |
| 2007 | Michael Robinson, S.F. | 100 | 31 | 237 | 120 | 357 | 2 | 79 |
| 2008 | Chris Henry, Ten. | 50 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 167 |
| 2008 | Tony Hunt, Phil. | 90 | 14 | 25 | 42 | 67 | 2 | 106 |
| 2008 | Garrett Wolfe, Chi. | 93 | 26 | 154 | 117 | 271 | 0 | 92 |
| 2009 | Glen Coffee, S.F. | 74 | 14 | 226 | 76 | 302 | 1 | 78 |
| 2009 | Jacob Hester, S.D. | 69 | 31 | 169 | 115 | 284 | 3 | 74 |
| 2011 | Montario Hardesty, Cle. | 59 | 10 | 266 | 122 | 388 | 0 | 74 |
| 2012 | Ryan Williams, Ari. | 38 | 5 | 164 | 44 | 208 | 0 | 101 |
| 2013 | LaMichael James, S.F. | 61 | 14 | 184 | 45 | 229 | 0 | 116 |
| 2013 | Isaiah Pead, St.L. | 50 | 25 | 75 | 94 | 169 | 0 | 108 |
| 2014 | Dri Archer, Pitt. | 97 | 12 | 40 | 23 | 63 | 0 | 124 |
| 2014 | • Christine Michael, Sea. | 62 | 14 | 254 | 12 | 266 | 0 | 35 |
| 2019 | Derrius Guice, Was. | 59 | 5 | 245 | 79 | 324 | 3 | 69 |
| 2021 | KeShawn Vaughn, T.B. | 76 | 22 | 289 | 60 | 349 | 3 | 90 |
| 2021 | Darrynton Evans, Ten. | 93 | 6 | 61 | 38 | 99 | 1 | 85 |
| 2022 | Trey Sermon, S.F. | 88 | 11 | 186 | 26 | 212 | 1 | 67 |
| 2023 | Tyrion Davis-Price, S.F. | 93 | 7 | 120 | 0 | 120 | 0 | 123 |
| 2024 | MarShawn Lloyd, G.B. | 88 | 1 | 15 | 3 | 18 | 0 | 127 |
| 2024 | Jonathon Brooks, Car. | 46 | 3 | 22 | 23 | 45 | 0 | 114 |
| 2025 | Kaleb Johnson, Pitt. | 83 | 10 | 69 | 9 | 78 | 0 | 113 |
—Ian Allan
