Who Should I Start? Chuba Hubbard or Kaleb Johnson

Saturday, August 9, 3:50 PM

Carolina Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard opened the preseason with three rushes for 10 yards in Friday's 30-10 loss to the Cleveland Browns. While his stats were light, the 26-year-old is expected to resume his role as the team's lead back after an impressive 2024 campaign. Last year, Hubbard emerged as a bell-cow, capitalizing on injuries to Miles Sanders and Jonathon Brooks (knee) to post a stat line of 250 rushes for 1,195 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground, along with 43 receptions for 171 yards and one touchdown through the air in 15 games. He signed a four-year, $33.2 million contract extension in the middle of the season. RotoBaller projects Hubbard as RB17 heading into the regular season, reflecting his expected workload as the top option in the Carolina backfield and a steady, high-end RB2.

Friday, August 15, 9:20 AM

According to Andrew Fillipponi, Pittsburgh Steelers running back Kaleb Johnson is unlikely to have a big role on offense early in the season. Johnson still needs to work on his pass protection and pass-catching ability before taking on a bigger role. It's still fairly early in training camp, so things could change from now to Week 1. The expectation is that Jaylen Warren will be the lead back to start the season. After that, Johnson and Kenneth Gainwell figure to get mixed in as change-of-pace backs. If Johnson improves quickly, he could see his role on the team grow rapidly. The Steelers are high on Johnson after taking him in the third-round, but it seems like the rookie back still has things to work on before he's ready to take on a larger workload.