Who Should I Start? Chuba Hubbard or Elijah Mitchell

Thursday, October 16, 2:37 PM

Carolina Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard (calf), who has missed the last two games due to a calf injury, said on Wednesday that he expects to play on Sunday when the team travels to New York to take on the Jets, according to David Newton of ESPN. Hubard was limited in Wednesday's practice but was in full pads on Thursday. The 26-year-old was the Panthers' clear RB1 before his calf injury, but during his two-game absence, Rico Dowdle exploded on the scene to go for 400-plus scrimmage yards and two touchdowns on 60 touches for Carolina. Dowdle has surely earned a bigger piece of the backfield pie, even with Hubbard potentially returning in Week 7, but the coaching staff would not commit to Dowdle starting this weekend. If Hubbard indeed returns against the Jets, the Panthers could look to split the backfield evenly, making it tougher for both RBs to hit their true ceilings.

Friday, September 5, 7:20 PM

Kansas City Chiefs running back Elijah Mitchell is a healthy inactive for the Week 1 regular-season opener on Friday night in Brazil against the division-rival Los Angeles Chargers, according to Nate Taylor of ESPN. It's bad news for Mitchell heading into his first year with the Chiefs, as it looks like he's the RB4 to open the year, behind starter Isiah Pacheco, Kareem Hunt and rookie Brashard Smith. The 27-year-old was getting some first-team reps early in training camp, but that was a long time ago in late July. Mitchell signed a one-year, $2.5 million deal with KC in the offseason after spending his first three NFL seasons with the San Francisco 49ers. In his three years in the Bay Area, the former sixth-rounder in 2021 out of Louisiana averaged 4.7 yards per tote on 327 rush attempts for 1,523 yards and nine touchdowns (five in his rookie season).