Is Chuba Hubbard the NFL’s most underrated RB?

DONALD WATKINS | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Carolina Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard runs for a big gain against the Atlanta Falcons in an NFL game Oct. 13, 2024, at Bank of America Stadium. Hubbard has the NFL's best rushing success rate at 67.6%, 7 points better than anyone else in the league.

Carolina Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard was playing nearly flawless football.

Until the first half of Sunday’s 38-20 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

Over the opening 30 minutes, Hubbard, one of the few offensive standouts the past two seasons, entered Week 6 with the NFL’s top success rate rushing percentage.  

But on the third play against the NFC South rival Falcons, fill-in tackle Yosh Nijman whiffed on a block and outside linebacker James Smith-Williams stuffed Hubbard for a 2-yard loss.

Later in the first quarter, on first-and-10 from the Carolina 11, center Brady Christensen bounced a shotgun snap to Andy Dalton. The Panthers quarterback fielded the bouncer and handed the ball to Hubbard, who was tackled immediately for another 2-yard loss.

Hubbard, who entered Sunday with a team-high 393 rushing yards on 68 attempts, amassed just 6 yards on five first-quarter attempts. His early struggles continued.  

On the final play of the first quarter, Dalton took a snap and turned to his right, but Hubbard turned left. With Hubbard out of position, Dalton improvised for a 2-yard gain.

“That’s on me,” Hubbard said.

Also on Hubbard was a second-quarter fumble, which he recovered. It was Hubbard’s first since 2021.

“I mean, it’s football,” he said. “Me, personally, I need to get going sooner. I missed some things in the first half.”

With the Panthers trailing 28-20 after three quarters, Carolina coach Dave Canales displayed his confidence in Hubbard, who gained 34 yards on four consecutive carries and gave the Panthers some momentum.

“We were running the ball really well,” Canales said. “It’s our system. Can we continue to play our style of football late into games? The game was playing out just the way we wanted to.”

Until Dalton was intercepted by A.J. Terrell Jr. and “the game got away from us,” Canales said. “My message to the team: consistency. “It’s about the finish. We just gotta finish.”

To Hubbard, it came back to the start.  

With a 5.8-yard-per-carry average, Hubbard led the NFL with a 67.6% success rate, easily outdistancing the field. Minnesota running back Aaron Jones ranked second with a success rate seven percentage points behind Hubbard.

Despite the “adventurous” start, Hubbard compiled 92 rushing yards. Scheduled to become a free agent at the end of the season, Hubbard is on pace for a 1,374-yard campaign, which would be his first 1,000-yard season.

Is Hubbard one of the NFL’s most underrated running backs?

Canales wouldn’t bite.   

“I don’t grade him against other people,” Canales said Friday. “I just know he does a fantastic job for us and what we ask of him in our schemes. He really champions the cause of how to play football, how to prepare, how to go about your everyday. I can’t say enough about what Chuba has meant to us.”

What Hubbard means to the Panthers (1-5) is an arc of consistency that has remained absent far too often over the past two seasons.  

Attempting to provide a spark after Canales won a successful challenge, securing a Trevin Wallace-forced fumble and recovery, Hubbard scampered 15 yards on first down.

Hubbard touched the ball five times during the eight-play drive, which led to Eddy Pineiro connecting on a 24-yard field goal and a 10-7 Panthers lead in the second quarter.

On the Panthers’ opening second-half drive, Hubbard scampered 19 yards, igniting a drive that resulted in a 40-field goal by Pineiro, pulling the Panthers to within 25-20. But after Hubbard helped set them up for a potential fourth-quarter run, the Panthers fell flat.

“We threw the interception,” Canales said. “We gotta finish. There’s nothing else to say.”

Comments