Week 5
Week 5 gave us the kind of usage from Hubbard that we hoped to see in Week 4. He handled 89% of RB carries (24 of 27) and 75% of RB targets (6 of 8). The receiving, in particular, stood in stark contrast to the previous game. Rodney Smith drew 5 targets to Hubbard’s 2 in the loss at Dallas.

Hubbard delivered against Philly, gaining 101 yards on the ground and catching 5 of 6 targets for 33 more yards. And he looked good doing it.

Of course, Christian McCaffrey now looks poised to return for Week 6. But we can at least look to Hubbard as the clear backup should McCaffrey go down again. If you picked up Hubbard and don’t own McCaffrey, then try shopping the rookie to the McCaffrey owner in your league.

Week 4
Carolina missed do-it-all RB Christian McCaffrey, sidelined by a strained hamstring. Rookie Hubbard was a pale shadow of what McCaffrey has been. Not a bad game statistically – more than 4 yards per carry (13 for 57) and 2 catches in 2 targets for 14 yards – but not much help in a fantasy lineup.
It’s likely that Hubbard would start at least 1 more week while McCaffrey heals. The backup option could be veteran RB Royce Freeman, who carried just 3 times for 12 yards at Dallas. RB Rodney Smith could be a 3rd-down option after catching all 5 targets for 48 yards.

Week 3
Based on usage in Thursday night’s win over the Texans, Hubbard looks like Carolina’s lead back until Christian McCaffrey returns from his hamstring injury.

Over the final 42 minutes of the game, Hubbard out-snapped Royce Freeman 38 to 11, including 9 to 0 on 3rd and 4th downs. The rookie also played 100% of the 2-minute snaps and 66% of the short-down-and-distance snaps, per Pro Football Focus. Hubbard tallied 10 carries and 5 targets sans McCaffrey vs. Freeman’s 5 carries and 1 target.

And Hubbard looked good. Not McCaffrey-level good, of course. But good. He tallied 52 yards on his 11 carries and caught 3 of 5 targets for 27 yards. Hubbard ranked 19th among 49 qualifiers in PFF’s Week 3 rushing grades and 23rd out of 32 in receiving grades.

It’s possible that Freeman plays more in these next few games without McCaffrey, but our money is on Hubbard operating as the clear lead back. Consider him a RB2 with upside for a plus Week 4 matchup vs. the Cowboys. We’ll reevaluate his standing after that one.