New Texas Longhorns 1st Round Pick Emerges In Latest NFL Mock Draft

In most NFL mock drafts, it has been the usual suspects going early for the Texas Longhorns.

Whether it has been receivers Xavier Worthy and Adonai Mitchell or defensive tackle Byron Murphy II in the first round, or T'Vondre Sweat and JT Sanders in the second round, the Horns are set to be one of the more talked about teams later this month.

On Friday in NFL.com's latest mock draft from Chad Reuter, however, a new - and quite surprising - candidate emerged as a projected first-round pick in running back Jonathon Brooks.

So where will Brooks land?

According to Reuter, Brooks will be heading to the Dallas Cowboys - a team that has been widely connected to him through the mock draft process this offseason.

"Brooks' (and game) reminds me of Todd Gurley, who suffered an ACL injury in November of his final season at Georgia and wound up a top-10 pick the following April. Despite the injury, Gurley carried the ball 1,265 times and caught 218 passes in his first five pro seasons. Dallas could view Brooks as that sort of workhorse because of his combination of power and agility.'

In most renditions of multi-round mocks, Brooks is projected to the Cowboys as a Day 2 pick, thanks in large part to the ACL injury. In fact, were it not for that injury, Brooks would likely easily hold the title of RB1 in the class, and be a fringe first-round pick.

All that said, Reuter could be on to something here. Brooks stated at the NFL combine that he is on track to be fully rehabbed and ready to go by the time training camp rolls around this summer.

And rather than risk potentially losing the player many consider to be the top running back in the draft - which just so happens to be the Cowboys' biggest position of need - perhaps Dallas would be smart to go ahead and secure their target.

Of course, the argument could also be made that picking Brooks that early could be a reach. If he is widely seen as a Day 2 due to the injury, then the Cowboys could - and likely should - wait until later to secure him.

If they do that, they could address other needs in the first round such as offensive line or defensive tackle, before taking Brooks with their pick at No. 56 in Round 2.

Either way, according to most draft 'experts' and projections, it appears that Brooks and the Cowboys are linked, and it is just a matter of when, and not if, he joins America's Team.

You can view the full list of Longhorns Reuter projected to go in the first five rounds below:

11. Minnesota Vikings - DT Byron Murphy
17. Kansas City Chiefs - WR Xavier Worthy
24. Dallas Cowboys - RB Jonathon Brooks
53. Philadelphia Eagles - WR Adonai Mitchell
55. Miami Dolphins - TE Ja'tavion Sanders
59. Houston Texans - DT T'Vondre Sweat
127. Houston Texans - OT Christian Jones
139. Washington Commanders - RB Keilan Robinson