Chuba Hubbard’s fantasy football stock spiked after a massive 2024 campaign (1,195 rushing yards and 11 total touchdowns), but managers who spent up looking for a repeat in 2025 were left wanting more as Rico Dowdle controlled the Carolina backfield.
He’s going to enter this season as the Panthers’ bell cow, but his ADP reflects hesitation about getting burned again. Has his cost dropped to a point where the risk is more than baked in, thus leaving you with plenty of room to win in a big way?
Should You Draft Chuba Hubbard in Fantasy Football?
Last season was a disaster, and there are no two ways about that. Despite Bryce Young taking a step forward, Hubbard didn’t come along for the ride. He posted just three top-24 finishes and averaged a career-low 0.42 PPR points per rush. There was nothing in the way of explosive potential (6% of his carries picked up 10+ yards), and with just one touchdown on the ground, it was a lost season.
That’s all true. But it’s also true that these teams get to see these players more than we do, and Carolina didn’t pursue re-upping Dowdle (two years, $12.25 million with the Steelers). At some level, that means they were confident in what they had in-house, and that’s a start.
Let’s not forget that Hubbard had three receiving scores a season ago (career prior: two) despite filling the RB2 role. Sure, the rate of scoring on those plays will vary from year to year, but two of those three saw him pick up over 20 yards after the reception, and that’s a skill set that we love to chase.
No one is going to confuse Hubbard for Bijan Robinson in terms of fluidity as a receiver, but I have to think that he impressed the franchise last season (18.3% of his touches were receptions, up from 14.4% in the two years prior). With this team spending the 19th overall pick on OT Monroe Freeling (Georgia), it’s not hard to like the trajectory of this backfield.
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Jonathan Brooks is, of course, the moving piece in all of this, and as his ADP rises, it stands to reason that Hubbard’s will bottom out. He’s easy to root for, and the story alone is going to generate positive headlines and reports.
Leverage that.
Brooks might be healthy. Brooks might be able to stay healthy. Brooks might be an NFL-ready back. Those are a lot of “mights,” and given his injury profile, there’s a world in which he checks all of the needed boxes and still doesn’t get into a spot where he’s entering weeks with a 10+ touch expectation.
Brooks still has another year on his rookie deal, and I think it’s logical to believe that if he is going to prove himself as a future RB1, we’ll see it more in 2027 than 2026 as he attempts to get his professional legs under him. This could be a great story; I just don’t think it’s fully a 2026 story.
Opportunity cost is also something that needs to be considered in this situation.
At ESPN right now, drafting Hubbard means you’ve passed on a pair of veteran receivers that I personally have no real interest in this year (Mike Evans and DK Metcalf). No fantasy draft is going to be perfect. Every one comes with its own runs and reaches, steals and sleepers. That said, avoiding a mistake should be viewed as a step toward a championship, even if it’s not the type of selection that gets a strong reaction within the draft room.
Hubbard’s Dynasty Fantasy Football Value
This bet gets a little scarier the further you look into the future. Do I think Brooks (nine professional carries) is going to be trusted as a 10- to 15-touch player this year? Clearly I don’t, and that’s why I can get behind taking Hubbard in redraft, but my confidence in the fading of a former second-round pick (6.2 yards per carry across his career at Texas) diminishes the further into the future we try to look.
I don’t know if he can withstand a reasonable workload at the NFL level, but I do know that Hubbard will cross 1,000 professional carries this year and is nearing the 700-day mark since his last 30-yard rush.
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Of course, it’s possible that Brooks never regains the promise he once had and that Trevor Etienne is a career backup. For me, this is a win-now running back for a manager who is willing to “figure it out” later. Where Hubbard’s value will stand in 12 months has a wide range of outcomes, but I do think most of the short-term outcomes are favorable, and that makes him a valuable piece if 2026 is inside your title window.
