The Cowboys are thin at running back, so they should consider taking a chance on Texas’ Jonathon Brooks, even though he suffered a season-ending injury in 2023.
Brooks told Cowboys staff writer Nick Harris he has a visit scheduled with Dallas. The 20-year-old tore his ACL against TCU on Nov. 11 and didn’t participate in the scouting combine, but he is expected to be ready for training camp.
Team doctor Dan Cooper performed Brooks’ surgery, meaning Dallas is probably well aware of the severity of the injury.
Regardless, Brooks is one of the best running back prospects in this class. Across 11 games last season, he rushed for 1,139 yards and 10 touchdowns on 187 carries. He also tallied 25 receptions for 286 yards and one TD catch.
“If you actually look at his career — not a lot of carries [238 in three seasons]. As they say, there’s a lot of tread left on the tires,” Fox Sports college football commentator Joel Klatt recently said on his podcast. “[Brooks] of this crowd — I think he’s the guy that is most similar to those three that I mentioned, your Bijan [Robinson], Jahmyr [Gibbs], Christian McCaffrey’s, in that he’s very dynamic running the football, and he’s a threat catching it out of the backfield.”
Former Pro Bowler Tony Pollard signed a three-year, $21.75M deal with the Tennessee Titans in free agency, creating a hole in the Dallas backfield.
Free agent Rico Dowdle re-signed a one-year, $1.255M deal, but he hasn’t proven he is a viable starting RB. In 2023, he rushed for 361 yards on 89 carries in 16 games. Backup Deuce Vaughn – the 212th overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft – had 23 carries for 40 yards in seven games.
Dallas should add another RB in the draft and Brooks might be worth the risk. Tankathon projects that the Cowboys will select him with the 56th overall pick.
