3-star RB Jonathon Brooks signs with Texas

The Texas Longhorns picked up a key piece to the 2021 class with the signature of Jonathon Brooks, who signed with Texas on Wednesday while prepping for the first-ever Class 3A State Championship game appearance for Hallettsville.

The consensus three-star running back was a budding star in the smaller school ranks as a sophomore, earning All-District honors before being named District MVP as a junior after rushing for more than 1,300 yards and 24 touchdowns as a junior. Texas was the first school to offer Brooks, a move that paid off in May as he shut down his recruitment before his senior year. That looks like it paid dividends for Texas in the long-haul.

The 6-0, 185-pound had a massive senior campaign for Hallettsville, rushing for 1,399 yards and 28 touchdowns through the first four weeks of the playoffs, including several highlight-reel runs.

Brooks is a violent runner who can make players miss in space with a fairly developed dead leg, as well as the power to run through opponents. He’s also a tough-minded back who can come in and make the tough yards for teams on short-yardage situations. Much of the knock on Brooks comes from a lack of top-end speed, but that has yet to hinder his big play ability for the Brahmas.

Brooks is actually a two-way player for Halletsville and is a capable player on defense, returning a touchdown for an interception in his eight-score performance against the Llano Yellow Jackets to help send his team to the championship game. He comes to Texas as the No. 418 player in the class of 2021, the No. 24 running back, and the No. 59 player in the state of Texas, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.