Panthers make a definitive decision on the future of key 2024 draft pick

The Carolina Panthers will have to wait a little while to see rookie running back Jonathon Brooks in-game action.

On Tuesday, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported the Panthers have elected to leave Brooks on the non-football injury list ahead of the team's opener on Sept. 8. He won't be available for four weeks of the regular season.

Brooks tore his ACL during his final season of college football. When he was drafted, it was expected that he would be ready to go at the start of training camp. That hasn't happened. In fact, he hasn't played a single down of NFL football yet.

Still, the Panthers see, in him, a meaningful investment, spending the No. 46 overall pick on the running back.

"You kind of just have to look at your future,'' Brooks said, per ESPN. "I just have to know that for me to have patience is going to help me further my career.''

Without Brooks, the Panthers' running back room looks like the following: Chuba Hubbard, Miles Sanders and Raheem Blackshear.

Carolina will hope that, for now, those three will be enough to get the job done.

“He’s doing great," Canales said of Brooks. "I saw him running out a little bit before practice. They have a progression on him. He feels stronger and stronger every day."