'Amazing!' Texas Longhorns RB Jonathon Brooks Opens Up About Carolina Panthers Pick

For the second-consecutive draft, the Texas Longhorns have produced the first running back taken.

Texas Longhorns running back Jonathon Brooks (24) celebrates after he runs into the end zone for a / Ricardo B. Brazziell/American-Statesman

For the second year in a row, the Texas Longhorns were the source of the first running back taken in the NFL Draft.

Just one year after Bijan Robinson was taken as the first running back off the board, his protégé Jonathon Brooks was taken as the first back off the board. Although he was expected to end up with the Dallas Cowboys after an offseason of chatter about them being the perfect landing spot, Brooks was taken by the Carolina Panthers. A moment he will never forget.

"It felt awesome, it felt amazing," Brooks said via a release. "Everything I worked for in life growing up as a kid throughout my football career, it felt like it paid off. This isn’t the ultimate goal. The ultimate goal is to stay in the league and be a productive back for multiple years. Just for me to be able to continue the Texas running back tradition, going to the league, being the first back taken, it really holds a lot of weight. Now I’ve got to go in there and do my part."

Texas Longhorns running back Jonathon Brooks (24) celebrates after he runs into the end zone for a / Ricardo B. Brazziell/American-Statesman

 In his first full season as the starter rushed for 1,139 yards and 10 scores despite missing out on their final four games due to his torn ACL. He explained that he was ready for the opportunity thanks to the help of Robinson and Roschon Johnson.

"Definitely, and for me, guys like Jamaal Charles, Ricky Williams, all of them coming back to Texas, I have a lot of good feedback from them. Even Coach Choice, he didn’t play at Texas, but he has a lot of good feedback. But for me to be able to learn from Bijan and Roschon for those two years at Texas, then even after their first year in the league, they gave me a lot of good insight for what it will be like, how it is, and how you maintain your body throughout the league. It’s pretty awesome to have those guys. When you go to Texas – Malcolm Roach literally just said it – it’s like a brotherhood regardless of when you came out. Malcolm Roach at the spring game treated me like I played on the team with him, like I was one of his brothers. When you go to Texas, it’s a brotherhood and something we take a lot of value in."

He also made sure to show appreciation for the coaches who helped develop him and believed him despite being from the previous regime.

"I would like to thank Coach Choice, all the running backs I’ve been there with, the whole coaching staff, Coach Flood, Coach Sark, all the coaches since I’ve been there, and then the fans and the community of Austin. It’s been an amazing ride, and I appreciate every moment that I had there."

As of Saturday, Brooks will also have a familiar face with him in Carolina, as tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders was taken a couple of rounds later by the Panthers.