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Is Chuba Hubbard injured or healthy? Should you draft Jonathon Brooks or Chuba Hubbard in fantasy football in 2026? John's expert draft analysis for these Panthers RBs.
Carolina Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard (hamstring) has been held out of practice for around a week now. He was a surprise must-start RB in 2024, when he finished as the RB14 in PPR fantasy leagues despite not playing in the last two weeks of the season.
The sixth-year pro now has more competition in the backfield, as the highly-drafted Jonathon Brooks appears to be healthy after two seasons of dealing with ACL tears in the same knee.
Hubbard and Brooks will certainly operate with some kind of split, but it's worth questioning how even it will be. Hubbard's health is also now in question. So, is Hubbard healthy, and which one should you draft?
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Is Chuba Hubbard Injured or Healthy?
The former Oklahoma State Cowboy suffered a hamstring injury at practice, which was confirmed with later medical testing after he self-reported the issue. Hamstring problems commonly recur, unfortunately.
The good news is that he has time to heal before the start of the season. The Panthers play their first game on September 13th, which is a little under a month away. Many minor hamstring ailments can heal within that time frame.
Chuba Hubbard calls game 🎬 pic.twitter.com/QUrrCkrQxv
— NFL (@NFL) December 22, 2024
According to Carolina head coach Dave Canales, Hubbard should be good for the start of the season. That's good news. However, some skepticism on his involvement early on is warranted. Working him in slowly makes sense to avoid a re-injury.
It's reasonable to expect Hubbard to be somewhat limited for between one to three weeks, but no more than that, as long as he doesn't re-aggravate the injury.
Chuba Hubbard Fantasy Football Outlook
Hubbard nearly had his starting job snatched from him last season by RB Rico Dowdle, who absolutely crushed it in a stretch of a few games behind the same offensive line. He was more efficient than Hubbard on the season and put up multiple games of over 28 PPR fantasy points.
Dowdle is gone, though. Now, the main competition in this backfield is RB Brooks, who is coming off two ACL tears in back-to-back seasons. The RB room overall is a bit underwhelming, but Hubbard has had nice moments, especially as a receiving back.
Chuba Hubbard scores from 27 yards out
CARvsJAX on FOXhttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/KnAPahRDsS
— NFL (@NFL) September 7, 2025
The Panthers handed Hubbard a nice contract extension shortly ago, so it's unlikely he'll be completely phased out of the game plan. Brooks might not be 100 percent this season, if ever. So Hubbard's involvement will clearly be more than minimal in this offense.
But Brooks has upside as a pass-catcher -- at least, he showed some off in college. Dowdle didn't have much of it, so that hurts Hubbard's potential target volume, which is massive. A low-end RB2 feels like the most reasonable outcome here.
Jonathon Brooks Fantasy Football Outlook
It's hard to say where Brooks will finish fantasy-wise. The problem is we just don't know the overall state of his knee. He has less than 10 carries in regular-season games, too. While he was a highly touted prospect coming out of college, he might just be a different player now.
In limited preseason action, he didn't look particularly explosive. He was never a speedster, but he looked sluggish bursting through holes and trying to dash past linebackers. If he doesn't re-injure his knee, he could be a late-season breakout candidate.
Jonathon Brooks takes the Bryce Young checkdown for a 9-yard gain. Longest play from scrimmage for the Panthers offense thus far (3 & out on both possessions). pic.twitter.com/4p2gJxe5Vr
— Chase Justice WYFF News 4 (@ChaseJusticeTV) August 15, 2026
Brooks' ADP has gotten a bit out of hand. He shouldn't be more expensive than Hubbard, but hype for young players that don't have much action can sometimes get excessive. It's hard for me to see him having big games early in the year.
He's a solid waiver wire candidate for later in the year. But even then, Hubbard should be good enough to force a roughly even split, unless he himself gets injured. That's nothing anyone can predict. It seems that the injury risk is higher for Brooks, anyway.
Brooks rushed for a touchdown in preseason action so far. But it's been two games now where he's looked sluggish. Two ACL tears in a row is nothing trivial to recover from. The third-year pro is also basically in his rookie season 3.0. He'll need time to get acclimated to the offense.
Jonathan Brooks takes it in with ease
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/5G93XLLifV
— NFL (@NFL) August 21, 2026
Returning to play and getting back to full strength are two different things. Brooks may -- understandably so -- be more reluctant to plant hard on the knee he injured twice now. That leg also may never return to full structural strength.
In addition, many players suffer constant injuries to one leg throughout their careers. This can stem from injuries they played through in college or even high school that were never properly addressed or led to permanent damage.
Playing football leads to injuries to all players at all levels of the sport. Many NFL players enter the big leagues with permanent injuries they play through the rest of their lives. Brooks may have further compensation injuries to deal with, as those are common after knee ligament tears.
Should I Draft Chuba Hubbard or Jonathon Brooks in Fantasy Football?
I would strongly lean toward drafting neither, but Hubbard would be my pick for now, especially at a lower ADP. Brooks may need the whole season and more to get back to his maximum explosiveness, which itself may not be what it was in college.
We don't know the full extent of the lasting damage or scar tissue in his knee and the surrounding structures, and likely will never know. It's better to err on the side of caution. That goes for the entire Panthers offense, too.
Their quarterback has never played well. Aside from a few games per season, he routinely misses throws, is incapable of evading pressure, doesn't have a physical presence in the pocket, and simply cannot sustain drives. There isn't a ton of talent around him, either, so it's a double whammy of mediocrity.
Bryce Young played a horrible game today.
-Throws late on a wide open hitch route to Tet McMillan, sails it out of bounds
-Horrible underthrow to a wide open Hunter Renfrow
-Awful INT11/22, 72 yards, 1 INT down 23-3 in the 4th. pic.twitter.com/NNEr8ob0Ak
— JohnJohn Analysis (@JohnJohnalytics) September 7, 2025
There are other reasons that the Panthers aren't great, but quarterback Bryce Young has just been abysmal his entire career. He holds back the entire offense for most of the season. A few good games here and there don't make up for the ocean of bad play.
The offensive line also looks primed to take a step back. It's been prone to massively reduced quality of play in recent seasons due to a lack of depth and injuries. This season, starting tackles Taylor Moton (illness) and Ikem Ekwonu (knee) will both miss the start of the regular season.
Ekwonu is an especially huge loss for this OL, and he tore his patellar tendon in January, so he may not be back until very late this year. The passing offense will be significantly hampered. The interior of the offensive line at least has guard Robert Hunt, though he's recovering from a torn pectoral muscle.
Bro just mad he got embarrassed by Ikem Ekwonu 😭😭😭 https://t.co/QuNhWut9Y4 pic.twitter.com/tUitTcEXhk
— 𓃵 (@Goaty_Szn) November 4, 2025
Carolina's rushing attack is set up to be one of the worst in the NFL. With Young being a very low-volume passing quarterback, there might not be enough PPR scam points to go around to make him a highly sought-after asset in fantasy football.
To make matters worse, constantly playing from behind should lower the team's rushing volume. We probably won't see this offense score a ton of touchdowns. Drafting Hubbard if he falls is not the worst move, but there's probably not much league-winning upside with either back in this backfield.
This is an offense I'll be happy to avoid entirely. Wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan could be relevant in fantasy, but he'll need a consistently high target volume to reach his full potential in what might be one of the most miserable NFL offenses to watch in 2026.
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