Mel Kiper Jr: 'Jonathon Brooks is the best back in the draft'
Without an ACL tear derailing his final season with the Texas Longhorns, Jonathon Brooks would have likely been the consensus No. 1 running back in this year’s NFL draft. ESPN NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. still thinks he is, mocking Brooks as the first running back drafted this year in his mock draft 4.0 this week.
Kiper currently has the second-team All-Big 12 honoree going with the No. 56 pick to the Dallas Cowboys in the second round. Though he could still be a long-shot night one selection, Kiper believes it’s more realistic for Brooks to get a call on Day 2. He has him as the only running back taken in the first two rounds.
“As for running backs, I would say late second,” Kiper said. “Jonathon Brooks, to me, is the best back in the draft, just based on ability. He had the ACL on Nov. 11, when is he back? We don’t know that. How much of a factor will he be this year?
“Had he not been hurt – and I’m not a running back in the first round kind of guy – I would have had early to mid second.”
Brooks rushed for 1,139 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2023. He also had 25 catches for 286 yards and one touchdown in the 10 games he played prior to his ACL injury. Despite his injury, the Texas native has had little wear and tear over the course of his collegiate career. In 2021 and 2022, he carried the ball a combined 51 times compared to 187 carries in 2023.
Brooks ready to return to the field in July
Despite being fresh from injury and surgery, Brooks has a timeline for recovery that puts him back on the field in July. It’s great news for any team hoping to draft him as their lead back for the 2024 season.
The Dallas Cowboys are one such team and they hosted Brooks for a top-30 prospect visit last week. Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones opened up about Brooks and his recovery from ACL surgery, which was performed by the team’s own specialist.
“It always helps when one of the doctors you’re very familiar with does the surgery,” Jones said on Monday. “That’ll be very helpful. Obviously, he’s a guy we follow right in our backyard in Texas. He’s got a lot of skill sets. If it wasn’t for the injury, he would’ve ultimately been rated the best back in the draft. Any time that a back is coming off an injury, you have to take those things into account.”
“Our understanding is that he has a great chance to be ready to not miss anything, start training camp and go to work,” Jones added. “We’ll see. I don’t want to preempt anything.”
Besides the Cowboys, several more teams have hosted Brooks for prospect visits leading up to the draft. He has interest from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Carolina Panthers as well with whom he visited on Monday and Tuesday.