If the Cowboys draft Jonathon Brooks, will he be a top rookie RB in dynasty leagues? | Yahoo Fantasy Football Show
Yahoo Sports' Matt Harmon and Dane Brugler from The Athletic make the case for why the Cowboys should select Texas' Jonathon Brooks in this year's NFL Draft. Listen to the entire conversation on the “Yahoo Fantasy Football Show” podcast, and make sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred listening platform.
Video Transcript
DANE BRUGLER: When does that first running back come off the board? And so I've got Dallas Cowboys, at 56, taking Jonathan Brooks, Texas running back. If Brooks makes it to 56, I just have a hard time seeing Dallas pass on him. Whoever they draft is going to play an immediate role in some way, shape, or form. With Brooks, he was viewed by many as running back one before the ACL injury.
Cowboys have never been shy about taking risks on injury or character guys in that second round. They never will be shy about doing it. You factor in Brooks's talent, the Cowboys connections, just the need at the position, and it just makes a ton of sense. Could he be gone at 56? Yeah, sure, that's definitely a part of this.
We've never seen a running back fall that far, the first running back off the board. The only other time we've seen a running back-- in the history of the draft, the only other time we've seen a running back fall outside the top 50 was Bishop Sankey in 2014. He was like 54th overall. So if the first running back doesn't go until 56, we're making draft history.
And I think some teams might be scared off by that ACL. But Todd Gurley was coming off an ACL, almost the same exact timeline, and he went top 10. So I think there's a realistic chance Brooks, Cowboys, 56-- it makes a lot of sense.
MATT HARMON: Dane gave you the best fantasy advice without even knowing he was giving you the best fantasy advice there, which is just, hey, who's the running back you want? Whoever the Cowboys draft. I think that if Jonathan Brooks ends up with the Cowboys, I think he will actually go over a lot of these other players, like some of these receivers like the AD Mitchells or the Ladd McConkey depending on where they land, right?
I think that Brooks will have that sort of-- I think he'll be able to move the needle that way because of some of the talent that you laid out and, again, just the overall opportunity. I think the style fits with what that team needs. And I don't know if you have a player comparison for him. But I've seen Aaron Jones. I've seen Jamaal Charles. And I mean, that type of guy. I mean, Aaron Jones, obviously, familiarity with Mike McCarthy too.
But just somebody like that to bring some big-play juice to this run game, Dane. Because Tony Pollard, you look at his end-of-season stats, they were fine. You look at the team's success rate, they were fine. Just nobody that played the Cowboys last year was scared of the run game ever. And I think with Brooks, they might be.
DANE BRUGLER: Well, and it's funny that you mentioned the big-play potential specifically. Because my comp for him-- I don't love this comp, but it's who it reminded me of. Stylistically, he reminded me a lot of Kenyan Drake. But I think Brooks has much better vision and actually gives you big-play potential.
So there's a caveat there. There's a qualifier with that comparison. But stylistically, that's the style of player that I see. It's just I think he's going to be a much more impactful running back than Kenyan Drake ever was.