Brooks' path to lead-back role is clear despite injury history; elite college tape and ground-heavy offense.

Brooks is going in the middle rounds despite a well-lit path to become Carolina's lead back; the presumed starter has been benched before and posted double-digit carries in just one of his final nine regular season games. Brooks is a real medical risk after tearing the same ACL twice within 13 months, but it's been roughly 20 months since the second tear, and the team has expressed real confidence that the second reconstruction went far better than the first. His lone college season was dazzling: 1,400 yards from scrimmage and 11 touchdowns in 11 games, earning a stylistic comparison to Jamal Charles. If he takes over, he'd anchor an offense that leaned heavily on the ground game last year, throwing 25 or fewer passes in half of its starts and posting the fifth-lowest pass rate over expected in the league.