Who could Nick Brooks become? Look to Steve Sarkisian's Alabama past for an answer

Looking at players from Steve Sarkisian‘s past can create a good amount of optimism for current Longhorns. The 2019 and 2020 Alabama O-lines featured a number of pros, inspiring belief that Texas could see similar professional development and placement in the NFL Draft. The Longhorns have done that in recent years with four selections over the past two drafts.

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Nick Brooks joined the Longhorn program in the hopes that he would someday follow players like Christian Jones, Kelvin Banks, Cameron Williams, and Hayden Conner. He likely had a lot of pitches in his ear from Sarkisian, including the ability to fulfill NFL dreams.

Another one was early playing time. Brooks saw the majority of the snaps at left guard against Florida then started between Trevor Goosby and Cole Hutson against Oklahoma. It wasn’t perfect, but he showed week-to-week improvement against the Sooners in a difficult environment.

“I felt like against Florida, he got a little overwhelmed at times where one play led into the next into the next,” Sarkisian said Thursday. “I thought at OU week he practiced well and maybe when a play wasn’t perfect he got on to the next play. He has a false start early in that game. Understandable. First career start. Red River Rivalry, he has a false start. I don’t think he let that negative play linger. He was able to move on. That’s a good sign for us that we’re able to recalibrate and give the next play the credit it deserves and focus on it.”

With Connor Stroh out and Neto Umeozulu running behind a number of other O-lineman, the left guard spot looks like it will be Brooks’ for the remainder of the season. Even though he will play on the interior this year, there’s a path he could take that looks very familiar to Sarkisian.

In the 2019 recruiting class, Evan Neal was a consensus five-star, Alabama’s top-rated prospect, and the No. 1 tackle in his class. Coming out of IMG Academy, offensive tackle was the projected position for Neal. Similar applied to the similarly sized 6-foot-7 Brooks, who played for Loganville (Ga.) Grayson after starting his prep career at Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Kennedy.

But it took some time for Neal to get to tackle. In 2019, Neal started every game for the Crimson Tide at left guard accumulating 723 total snaps. He had a few bumps getting out of the gate against Duke and New Mexico State, but turned into a trustworthy player for an elite Crimson Tide offense that was never stopped but only outscored by LSU and Auburn.

After Jedrick Wills was drafted in the first round of the 2020 draft, Neal moved out to Wills’ right tackle spot for the Crimson Tide and was elite during Alabama’s run to the national title. Then, Bama left tackle Alex Leatherwood was drafted in the first round of the 2021 draft. Neal moved positions again and became Alabama’s left tackle, but by this point Sarkisian was in Austin and Nick Saban had tabbed Bill O’Brien as his offensive coordinator.

Neal became a consensus All-American and the seventh overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft. Comparing Brooks to Neal might be a tad pie-in-the-sky, but Sarkisian and offensive line coach Kyle Flood both have experience turning a prospect with tackle traits into a playable interior lineman before moving him out to tackle. Neal was by no means the only one who kicked outside but he stands as the most prominent example from Sarkisian’s two years in Tuscaloosa.

Brooks’ path does have crossover with Neal’s but there are differences, too. Current Longhorns right tackle Brandon Baker isn’t able to go to the upcoming draft. Third-year player and current left tackle Trevor Goosby is on track to stay at Texas for another year.

There’s also the presence of the transfer portal, which Texas will likely use to bring in competition along the O-line following the season.

Still, the vision is there for a 6-foot-7, 360-pound+ prospect who turned into a 6-foot-7, 340-ish pound player to make the most of starting his career at guard before moving out to tackle.

Brooks will have to improve his play rapidly to really make the Neal hopes stick, especially in pass protection. If he does, he could see his collegiate journey bear resemblance to Neal’s thanks to guidance from Sarkisian.