Panthers HC Dave Canales said the backfield will be a committee to open the season with Chuba Hubbard alongside Jonathon Brooks. Hubbard told reporters his hamstring feels good and that he thinks trainers are being cautious after he may have returned too soon from a calf injury last season.
2026 Fantasy Football Impact: Committee Start, Workhorse Upside
Hubbard averaged a career-high 15.8 PPR points per game in 2024, which placed him among the top 15 fantasy RBs that season.
But last year, his production fell to just 8.4 PPG, a massive drop-off from the year prior.
Part of that could be in connection to a calf strain he suffered in week four that caused him to miss two games. That might not have been long enough, as Hubbard alluded that he possibly returned too soon.
If fully recovered from his hamstring injury, he is slotted to share a backfield with Brooks in Week 1. But with Hubbard the only one of the two with a proven workload in the league, he holds the advantage if this moves beyond a committee backfield and toward a workhorse role.
