Oklahoma Sooners head coach Lincoln Riley informed the media on Saturday that freshman running back Kennedy Brooks is out for the 2017 season with a shoulder injury. Brooks had surgery on the shoulder earlier in the week.
Lincoln Riley says true freshman Kennedy Brooks will be sidelined for the season with a shoulder injury. Hopes to get him back by spring
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) August 19, 2017
Kennedy Brooks shoulder injury was a chronic problem. Riley said instead of fighting thru pain all season, opted for surgery. #Sooners
— Eric Bailey (@EricBaileyTW) August 19, 2017
All in God's plan! The BEST is yet to come pic.twitter.com/UYc6eLxcRV
— Kennedy Brooks (@offenseofmind) August 18, 2017
Brooks was a four-star recruit out of Mansfield (TX) High School and rushed for 2,679 yards and 35 touchdowns as a senior. He likely would have been behind Oklahoma’s four other scholarship running backs on the depth chart in 2017, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he wouldn’t have seen the field. Brooks is an exceedingly talented back with the size and speed to make a real impact at the collegiate level, and he likely would have had his chances in Oklahoma’s new RB-by-committee approach. Oklahoma’s RB group now consists of redshirt sophomore Rodney Anderson, sophomore Abdul Adams, JUCO transfer Marcelias Sutton and true freshman Trey Sermon.
Hopefully Brooks’ surgery will take care of the problems he’s been experiencing. Getting it out of the way now, taking a redshirt year and coming back at full strength in 2018 seems like a wise decision, and we wish Kennedy a speedy recovery!