For a few weeks this camp, Carolina's running back room looked like it might sort itself out the hard way. Chuba Hubbard, the Panthers' bell-cow back and a $33.2 million investment since his 2024 extension, felt his hamstring grab during one-on-ones and got pulled for an MRI. Jonathon Brooks, the 2024 second-rounder who's torn his ACL twice in 13 months, stepped in and started the preseason game against Buffalo in his place. It was starting to feel like an audition.
Canales put that speculation to rest on Monday. Hubbard is on track for Week 1, and when he's out there, he won't have the backfield to himself.
Panthers RB Chuba Hubbard (hamstring) is on track to be ready for Week 1, per HC Dave Canales.
The follow-up news landed minutes later, and it's the part that actually reshapes fantasy drafts and Sunday game plans alike: Hubbard and Brooks are going to share the job, assuming Hubbard is active.
Chuba Hubbard and Jonathon Brooks will operate in RB by committee in Week 1, per HC Dave Canales. (Assuming Chuba is active)
Hayden Winks got Canales to spell out the split in more detail, and it's not a straight timeshare. There's a base-downs back and a third-down back, and Winks' read is that Hubbard projects as the early-down starter with Brooks working in as the change-of-pace and passing-down piece.
Full Q&A on the Panthers RB split. There will be a base downs back and then a third down back. I'd guess it's Chuba Hubbard as the starter with Brooks as the RB2.
None of this is great for Hubbard's fantasy stock even if his health checks out. He signed his extension off a workhorse role, and now he's ceding third-down snaps and, presumably, some goal-line work to a talented but oft-injured Brooks. Winks flagged as much separately, noting that fantasy managers who've been paying attention are already discounting Hubbard's August draft price.
Very sharp by the community. Chuba Hubbard is losing all of these August fantasy points.
Brooks, for his part, is the more interesting long-term watch. He was a projected first-round talent before a torn ACL at Texas dropped him to Carolina in round 2, then he re-tore the same knee just three games into his 2024 debut, wiping out the rest of that season and all of 2025 on PUP. If he's healthy enough to carve out real touches as a rookie-year encore two years later, this committee stops being a hedge on Hubbard's hamstring and starts being a real 1-2 punch. For now, Canales is playing it exactly how you'd expect a coach managing a banged-up but expensive veteran and a talented but fragile former second-rounder: don't rush anybody, and let the results in September sort out who actually earns the bigger slice.