Jonathon Brooks

Panthers HC Dave Canales said Jonathon Brooks (ACL) “will not play this preseason” and will hopefully be ready by Week 3 or 4.

Things were already trending in this direction after the Panthers placed Brooks on the NFI list to open training camp. Brooks suffered a torn ACL late in his final season at Texas and has been on the mend ever since. Despite early hopes that he would be ready by the start of training camp, those hopes quickly faded after Brooks failed to get much work in during OTAs and minicamp. As long as he remains out, the Panthers figure to lean heavily on Chuba Hubbard and Miles Sanders, with Hubbard expected to operate as the lead back. Canales has put emphasis on the running game all offseason and utilized Rachaad White heavily last season in Tampa Bay. Hubbard could have some nice value as a late-round fantasy pick that figures to see plenty of work in both the running and passing game.