Chuba Hubbard Primed To Lead Carolina’s Backfield Again in Fantasy Football

The Carolina Panthers won the NFC South last season despite an underwhelming 8-9 record. Their defense did most of the heavy lifting, considering that their offense only scored an average of 18.3 points per game. They had a lot of disappointing performers on the offensive side of the ball, including Chuba Hubbard. As Carolina pushes for another playoff appearance, Hubbard will need to have a bounce-back campaign.

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2025 Fantasy Letdown

Hubbard had his breakout performance in 2023, turning 238 rushing attempts and 44 targets into over 1,100 total yards. He was even better in 2024, rushing 250 times for 1,195 yards and 10 touchdowns. He also finished with a career-high 43 receptions, although he only converted them into 171 yards and one touchdown. With two valuable seasons under his belt, Hubbard was in the RB2 discussion for fantasy football heading into 2025.

To say that Hubbard’s performance last season was a disappointment would be an understatement. After averaging 4.8 yards per carry in 2024, he averaged just 3.8 yards per carry last year. As he struggled, he lost work to Rico Dowdle. That left Hubbard to finish the season with only 134 carries for 511 yards and one touchdown. Dowdle ended up leading the Panthers’ backfield, rushing 236 times for 1,076 yards and six touchdowns. He averaged 0.8 yards per carry more than Hubbard. Hubbard did not have a single carry of more than 20 yards, while Dowdle produced five of them.

Departure Of Dowdle

Dowdle posted back-to-back seasons with at least 1,000 rushing yards, one each with the Cowboys and Panthers. He has since moved on to his third time in the last three seasons, landing with the Steelers. Hubbard will now battle with Jonathon Brooks and Trevor Etienne for carries.

Brooks has the best pedigree out of the options behind Hubbard in Carolina. The team selected him with the 46th overall pick in the 2024 Draft. However, that was two major injuries ago. He only appeared in three games during his rookie season because of a torn ACL in his right knee. He then tore the same ACL again, costing him the entire 2025 campaign. Coming off tearing the same ACL two times in such a short time span won’t be easy, but youth is on his side as Brooks just turned 23 years old in July.

The Panthers selected Etienne in the fourth round of the 2025 Draft. He didn’t see much work, logging fewer than 10 offensive snaps in all but two games. Brooks figures to be the main competition for Hubbard, but given his injury history, it would be a significant surprise if he absorbed all of the 236 rushing attempts that have been vacated because of the departure of Dowdle.

Panthers’ Offensive Limitations

The Panthers’ passing attack was a problem last year. Although Bryce Young completed a career-high 63.6% of his pass attempts, he only threw for 3,011 yards. His average target depth went down, dropping from 8.5 yards in 2024 to 6.7 yards last season. Per 4for4’s NFL Team Stat Explorer, Carolina finished with the sixth-lowest explosive pass rate (10.4%) in the league. Their 1.7 points per drive was also the sixth-worst mark.

Despite their struggles through the air, the Panthers didn’t make any significant improvements during the offseason. Their wide receiver group will be led by Tetairoa McMillan, who had over 1,000 yards during his rookie campaign. However, behind him are lackluster options including Jalen Coker and Xavier Legette. Third-round rookie Chris Brazzell could also be in the mix for the WR3 role. Given Young’s struggles and his lack of playmakers at wide receiver, this should once again be a run-heavy offense.

The situation around Hubbard has left him with an ADP of 79, per 4for4’s Multi-Site ADP. That makes him RB30, being selected just after Tony Pollard (ADP 72) and Rhamondre Stevenson (ADP 77). He’s not that far ahead of his teammate Brooks, who has an ADP of 93 and is RB33.

At a minimum, Hubbard should receive more carries than last season. Even if Brooks can stay healthy, asking him to run the ball over 200 times after missing the last two seasons is a lot. Hubbard is a versatile running back who isn’t far removed from being a valuable fantasy option. He is well worth the risk at his current ADP. At worst, he is likely a viable flex option on a weekly basis. At best, he could be a low-end RB2.

The Bottom Line

• After two seasons of being a valuable fantasy football option, Chuba Hubbard was a disappointment in 2025.
• With Rico Dowdle no longer on the team, Hubbard’s main competition for carries is Jonathon Brooks, who missed most of the last two seasons after tearing the same ACL two twice.
• The Panthers should be limited in the passing game again as they don’t have many dangerous wide receiver options behind Tetairoa McMillan.
• According to 4for4’s Multi-Site ADP, Hubbard has an ADP of 79 and is RB30.
• Given Brooks’ injury history, there is a path for Hubbard to receive around 200 carries again. Even if he’s not as efficient as he was two seasons ago, that workload would be significant enough for him to be a viable flex option most weeks. If Brooks can’t stay on the field, it wouldn’t be shocking if Hubbard finished the season as a low-end RB2 in fantasy.