Who Should I Start? Chuba Hubbard or Bucky Irving

Thursday, March 5, 7:42 PM

Carolina Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard lost hold of his lead-back role during the 2025 season, but he has a glaring opportunity to win back the starting job in 2026. Rico Dowdle supplanted Hubbard atop the depth chart for a decent portion of last year, but with Dowdle headed for free agency and unlikely to re-sign, the job appears to be Hubbard's to lose. We can't rule out the Panthers drafting or signing a different running back to work alongside Hubbard, especially as more and more teams trend toward the shared backfield approach. However, it's worth noting that the Panthers have Trevor Etienne and Jonathon Brooks (knee) on the verge of making an impact, so perhaps Carolina will proceed with Hubbard atop the depth chart and Etienne and Brooks gradually taking on larger roles. The Panthers are also motivated to feed plenty of touches to Hubbard, as they signed him to a four-year extension just over a year ago. He was a top-28 fantasy running back in 2023 and 2024, but he dropped to RB38 with 511 rushing yards, 223 receiving yards, and four touchdowns last year. Hubbard's job security and the imminent departure of Dowdle should push him back into the top-25 range. As a result, he's a very appealing buy-low candidate in dynasty leagues this offseason.