Tahj Brooks

Tahj Brooks (born May 13, 2002) is an American professional football running back for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Tech Red Raiders and was selected by the Bengals in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL draft.

Early life Brooks attended Manor High School in Manor, Texas. During his career, he rushed for over 4,400 yards and had 47 total touchdowns. He committed to Texas Tech University to play college football.

College career As a true freshman at Texas Tech in 2020, he rushed for 255 yards on 69 carries with four touchdowns over 10 games. As a sophomore in 2021, he started four of nine games and led the team with 568 yards on 87 carries with seven touchdowns. He again finished as the team's leading rusher in 2022, finishing with 691 yards on 147 carries and seven touchdowns over 13 games and six starts.

Brooks returned as the starter his senior year in 2023. In the first half of the 2023 season, Brooks finished with 100-yards rushing in four consecutive games, becoming the first Texas Tech running back to do so in the 21st century. Brooks had his sixth 100-yard rushing game of the season against TCU, becoming the first Texas Tech running back to eclipse 1,000 yards in a single season since DeAndré Washington in 2015. Brooks was named a semifinalist for the 2023 Doak Walker Award.

On December 11, 2023, Brooks announced that he would be returning for the 2024 season. Against Iowa State, Brooks became the Red Raiders' all-time leader in rush attempts; the following game, against Colorado, Brooks surpassed Byron Hanspard as the program leader in rushing yards.

Statistics Year Team GP Rushing Receiving Att Yds Avg TD Rec Yds Avg TD 2020 Texas Tech 10 69 255 3.7 4 13 61 4.7 0 2021 Texas Tech 9 87 568 6.5 7 6 52 8.7 0 2022 Texas Tech 13 147 691 4.7 7 27 164 6.1 1 2023 Texas Tech 13 290 1,541 5.3 10 29 72 3.4 0 2024 Texas Tech 11 286 1,505 5.3 17 28 199 7.1 1 Career 56 879 4,560 5.2 45 81.4 548 5.4 2

Professional career

Brooks was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals as the 193rd pick in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL draft.