The 2026 season is lining up to be a career-defining moment for Carolina Panthers running back Jonathon Brooks.
ESPN's Ben Solak recently named each NFL team's X factor going into the upcoming campaign. For Carolina, he lists Brooks—who he also describes as the team's "biggest unknown" at the moment:
The Panthers appear to have a budding star in second-year receiver Tetairoa McMillan, and Jalen Coker is a fine running mate. But Carolina desperately needs another explosive weapon to emerge on offense if it is going to successfully build around quarterback Bryce Young's skill set. Brooks was drafted to be the dominant drumbeat as a 20-plus-carry player and the home run threat on quick passes and screens that Canales has always schemed up well. If
we finally get to see the player who has been promised, it'll move the needle on Carolina's season.
Thanks to a pair of ACL tears, Brooks has been unable to even try to move any sort of needle as a pro. Since being selected in the second round of the 2024 draft, he's appeared in only three regular-season games—all of which came in his rookie season.
Brooks nearly matched that total this summer, having played in the first two preseason games of his NFL career. In limited action over two contests, he rushed for 23 on eight carries and added nine receiving yards on one catch.
Time will tell if Brooks becomes the drumbeat Solak alludes to, as the Panthers still value the presence of sixth-year veteran Chuba Hubbard. But if Brooks turns up as the prospect the organization drafted him to be, then the backfield could turn into his show.
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This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: ESPN says Panthers' biggest X factor in 2026 is also their biggest unknown
