2022 NFL Draft Prospects to Watch: Tulsa vs. Oklahoma State
Tulsa RB Shamari Brooks
College Football News selected Shamari Brooks for preseason all-conference honors in the American Athletic Conference. The Tulsa native had a 2020 he’d like to forget, as he tore his ACL before the season even began, missing the entire year. But up to that, he’d shown great promise as one of the better backs in the AAC.
In 2018 and 2019 combined, he ran for 2,013 yards and 13 touchdowns on 4.4 yards per carry. His 2017 true freshman season was nothing to sneeze at either, as Brooks ran for 10 touchdowns in nine games at 5.8 yards per tote.
This is a big season for Shamari Brooks and his 2022 NFL Draft hopes, as a stellar showing here could see him being selected in the draft. Teams who might be worried about his heavy workload will have their fears set at ease as Brooks could be sharing the backfield duties with Deneric Prince, who had 14 carries in Tulsa’s opener to Brooks’ 10. The disparity in carries could be Tulsa trying to work Brooks back slowly from his injury as well.
Despite his miniature frame (5’8” 194), in the film I saw, Shamari Brooks ran quite hard, often picking up yards after contact and not letting the first defender bring him down. He even sought out contact on occasion, trucking one defender before barreling into the end zone in a game against Toledo.
He’s got good straight-line speed, but not the top end track-type speed that most first or second round running backs have. Brooks has some wiggle to him as he showed off some juke moves, cutbacks, nice balance, and an eagerness to accelerate through the hole when it was there for him.
Shamari Brooks with the rushing TD earlier in the night. pic.twitter.com/ClKJqEFnj0
— Greg Brandt (@devywarehouse) September 2, 2018
I was reminded a bit of Warrick Dunn watching Shamari Brooks run, as his small stature seemed to help him; he ducked under tackles and seemed to hide behind his linemen while waiting for the hole to develop in front of him before putting his foot in the ground and bursting through it. His instincts as a runner were solid too, as he often knew when to bounce it to the outside, when to cut it up, and when to cut back against the grain.
With the advances of modern sports medicine, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Shamari Brooks recover fully from his ACL injury last year and top the 1,000 yard and 10 touchdown marks in 2021, even if he does end up as part of a backfield by committee. Should he do that, he could be picked on day three of the 2022 NFL Draft.