CHARLOTTE— The Carolina Panthers seven-man rookie draft class has experienced a whirlwind over the past month. Since NFL draft weekend, rookies have moved to Charlotte, gone through rookie minicamp and OTAs, mandatory minicamp, and have now returned to the Queen City for training camp.

As the rookie draft class works through their first offseason, each will take time to reflect on their journey to this point and their time in the league thus far. Three rookies took us along through OTAs and mandatory minicamp, and now the rest of the class will take us along through training camp.

Next up is running back Jonathon Brooks. The Texas alum was drafted in the second round (No. 46 overall) and the first running back drafted in 2024.

"Honestly, (draft night) was a little overwhelming, a little bit because, the feeling of not knowing what's next. Not knowing where, not knowing what place, and what pick. But, I have my trust in God and I trusted that He had a plan for me.

"I had a lot of people, family and friends. I was at a hall in Hallettsville. My community has been backing me since high school. So, me and my mom kind of figured it'd be kind of nice if I did that and have everyone there. It was like 200 people. I have a lot of close friends though from back at home. It's a small town as it is. So, it was a pretty cool experience."

"It did (start to occur) I could be first. Honestly, it was nerve wracking but I keep my faith in God and just sitting on that couch just seeing -- I mean, I was happy a lot of my teammates went before me so it was kind of my whole party cheering for (T'Vondre) Sweat, cheering for a lot of people that went before me.

"That next morning I woke up. Me and Ja'Tavion Sanders have the same agent and he told me (we were both going to the Panthers), that was pretty cool. I called him right after right after and, we talked and chopped it up."

Brooks is in a unique position, having torn his ACL with the Longhorns last November. As such, he arrived for rookie minicamp—and every subsequent offseason activity—knowing he'd be sidelined and learning the game in a much different way than his counterparts.

"Honestly, my main focus, it was learning the playbook. So classroom work and then, really just getting my knee right so I can get back on time, on schedule. Just trying to make sure my knee is healed as the best as it can.

"Just been studying a lot, going over it, getting with the older vets in the room and really just picking off of their brain, how they remember stuff. And I have my own way for remembering plays too. Just key words with key words. Just a lot of stuff tells you what it is in a sense. I've kind of had the strategy since college. It was the same kind of offense that we were ran in college. We ran a Pro-style offense in Texas. So, it was a lot easier for me to remember.

"Then just asking (the vets) what their routine is, seeing how they take care of their body, seeing how they learn the playbook, when they do it and what they do like after practice. Like Chuba Hubbard, he'll be the last one off the field every time catching jugs. So really just learning good practice habits and good off the field habits from them."

After getting drafted, Brooks moved away from his family and Texas for the first time. It's meant a lot of growing up in a short amount of time, and realizing how different life can be in the NFL.

"It is different, especially living on my own. I had a roommate in college, but living on my own is definitely different. It's a different type of workload. You got to sit here and you really got to focus on football and football only. In college, you got class and other distractions. I think it's been a good transition for me, just because I feel like, not to toot my own horn, but I feel like my head is in the right space. I'm here for the right reasons and I truly believe God has a plan for me.

"Knock on wood, I haven't got fines yet when I heard how much fines are, that's a little wild. I haven't really had that moment yet just because I haven't been in practice or anything like that."

For now, Brooks is on the active/non-football injury list and is expected to miss all of camp and into the first few weeks of the regular season. It means that while being patient, Brooks has had a lot of time to imagine when he finally suits up.

"I think about it all the time. I can't wait but I can, if that makes sense. I want to be patient with my injury, but I also want to be aggressive and attack my workouts, so I know I'm fully ready to go."