Who Should I Start? Chuba Hubbard or Kyren Williams

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.

Tuesday, August 5, 12:05 PM

The Los Angeles Rams and running back Kyren Williams agreed to a three-year, $33 million extension on Tuesday, including $23 million in guarantees, according to agents Drew and Jason Rosenhaus. Williams gets rewarded with a new deal after topping 1,000 yards rushing in each of the last two seasons with the rams. Last year in 16 regular-season starts, the 24-year-old had a career-high 316 carries for 1,299 rushing yards and a career-best 14 rushing touchdowns, adding a career-high 34 receptions on 40 targets for another 182 yards and two scores. The numbers were great for fantasy purposes, but Williams wasn't as efficient as his Pro Bowl season in 2023, and second-year RB Blake Corum could see more involvement in 2025. It will be hard for Williams to ever be as efficient as he was in 2023 if Corum becomes more involved. He's on the RB1/2 borderline in RotoBaller's rankings.