NFL Draft
3/19/25
6 min read
Tahj Brooks 2025 NFL Draft: Scouting Report For Texas Tech Red Raiders RB
Height: 5092 (verified)
Weight: 229lbs (verified)
Year: Redshirt Senior
Pro Comparison: Devin Singletary
Scouting Overview
Texas Tech Red Raiders running back Tahj Brooks projects as a viable inside zone runner at the NFL level. Brooks pairs a compact frame with good contact balance and sudden foot fire, allowing him to make track adjustments in short spaces to pick his way through traffic.
He’s effective in hiding behind his offensive linemen before popping into gaps for his chunk gains. He lacks the breakaway juice to consistently hit home runs and convert his open-field opportunities into big scores.
2025 NFL Combine Results
| Position | Name | School | 40-Yard Dash | 10-Yard Split | Broad Jump | Vertical Jump | 3-Cone Drill | 20-Yard Shuttle | Bench Press |
| RB | Tahj Brooks | Texas Tech | 4.52 | 1.56 | 120 | 35 | 6.9 | 4.06 | 16 |
Positives
- Offers good contact balance thanks to low pads and a dense frame
- Showcases toughness in short-yardage situations to hammer home into tight gaps and embraces muddy yards
- A physical runner with multiple years of handling major-league workload
Negatives
- Is not an overly patient runner and is eager to get north and past the line of scrimmage
- Lacks an open-field gear to help turn his singles and doubles into home runs in space
- Shows only modest pass-catching abilities and is unlikely to claim a full-on third down role
Background
Brooks is from Manor, TX, and played high school football for Manor HS. There, he was a four-year letterman with three 1,000+ yard rushing seasons to his name. He logged 65 total touchdowns at Manor as a 3-star recruit (247 Sports) before ultimately committing to Texas Tech over programs like Arizona, Cal, Boston College, TCU, Missouri, Minnesota, and others.
He appeared in 10 games as a true freshman in 2020 for the Red Raiders but maintained his four years of eligibility due to the NCAA’s ruling on the COVID-19 season. Brooks broke out as the team leader in rushing yards in 2021 despite missing four games due to injury.
He played a full season in 2022 and once again finished as the Red Raiders’ leader in rushing yards before assuming full-time starting duties in 2023. Brooks posted more than 1,500 rushing yards and was named First Team All-Big 12 for his performance on the field.
Brooks chose to utilize his fifth year of eligibility for the 2024 season and once again surpassed 1,500 rushing yards — this time doing so in 11 starts after missing the team’s second game of the season and opting out of the bowl game.
Brooks became the program’s all-time leading rusher and then accepted an invitation to the 2025 East-West Shrine Bowl.
Tale Of The Tape
Brooks has the ability to be a productive NFL runner. Guys with his pad level and density are hard to bring down 1-on-1. He averaged more than 3 yards after contact per carry for the Red Raiders in 2024. He appears to have cut weight to help his NFL Combine testing, but the film tells the story of a sturdy single and doubles hitter with rapid-fire feet to make subtle adjustments to his rush track.
As a runner, he’s better suited to run behind a big, burly offensive line that can pop open gaps for him and take the play processing out of the equation. The concern coming out of Texas Tech is how well he can read and diagnose fronts and more condensed formations vs. what he was exposed to as a bell-cow back at Tech.
Playing in gap schemes and knowing where runs are designed to hit gives him the best chance of getting through the line of scrimmage, where his running instincts can then take over.
He possesses the willingness to put his nose down and grind out a hard yard, showing the ability to run through contact or contort out of a wrap-up attempt. These reps would be more consistent in conversions if Brooks were a more explosive player at his playing weight, but he’s a viable candidate for these opportunities.
Brooks would benefit from some added ball security. He’s fumbled four times in the last two seasons and lost three of those four, a number that needs to be cut down, given that he’s profiling most likely as a platoon player and not a universal talent that’s a featured weapon in a rushing attack. Too many inopportune issues early could cost him the trust of his new coach and, ultimately, his slice of the pie.
In the passing game, Brooks is better in protection than he is as a pass catcher. He didn’t suffer from unreasonable drops, but his route running and utilization were largely unimaginative and offered flares and checkdowns underneath. His lack of explosiveness without the football will create challenges for his ability to create separation in man-to-man matchups, and he doesn’t offer a great deal of alignment versatility in the passing game.
As a pass protector, Brooks is certainly willing. He’s tough and puts his natural leverage and density to good use to pop blitzers. Many of his opportunities came out of RPOs or zone reads to collect the garbage out of the mesh point and pick up backfield penetration.
These reps don’t necessarily carry a great one-for-one translation to the pro game. The good news is that he’s shown a physical component between these opportunities and the quarterback run game.
Ideal Scheme Fit, Role
Brooks projects best as an inside zone or gap scheme runner. His lack of juice to the edges will limit his ability to successfully press the edge in outside zone.
His lapses of patience may leave him best utilized in gap schemes where his holes are designated for him. He’s a potential primary runner in the perfect situation but would be best served as a part of a running back platoon in the NFL.
Grade: 69.50/100.00, Sixth Round Value
Big Board Rank: TBD
Position Rank: TBD
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