Chuba Hubbard

Hubbard rushed the ball eight times for 29 yards in Sunday's 20-17 loss to the Saints. He added one reception on one target for nine yards.

Before their Week 14 bye, it looked like the Carolina Panthers were shifting to a committee backfield with Rico Dowdle and Chuba Hubbard. But in Week 15, Dowdle out-carried Hubbard 16-8 and scored a TD to reclaim his status as Carolina's lead back. Neither back had much success against the Saints, who held the duo to a combined 3.25 yards per carry as New Orleans pulled off a 20-17 upset win.

Hubbard was seemingly headed toward a featured role after RB Rico Dowdle was escorted off the field by Panthers trainers, but Dowdle returned after a few plays, in time to score a touchdown. Hubbard was then stuck in his rotational role. He has a nice first-down gain on the Panthers' fourth drive, traversing the field after securing a screen pass on 3rd-and-7. He is just a low-floor FLEX against the Buccaneers next week.

As the Panthers head into their bye week, Canales said he "likes" the backfield balance the team struck in Week 13's upset of the Rams, when Dowdle saw 18 rushes to 17 carries for Chuba Hubbard. Hubbard, fully recovered from a calf injury, ran 15 pass routes against LA -- catching a touchdown on two grabs -- while Dowdle logged six routes and caught both of his targets. "Some of it was third-down opportunities. We've been using Chuba primarily as our third-down back, and then he gets series as we go," Canales said. With his pass game involvement reduced to almost nothing, Dowdle will be a low-ceiling, touchdown-dependent RB3 when the Panthers return from bye in Week 15. Hubbard, meanwhile, will have some value in deeper PPR formats.

Panthers RBs Chuba Hubbard and Rico Dowdle split touches throughout the team s win over the Los Angeles Rams, but Hubbard outproduced Dowdle. Hubbard went 17-83-0 on the ground and 2-41-1 through the air. Dowdle went 18-58-0 on the ground and 2-21-0 through the air. Hubbard also outsnapped Dowdle 38 to 27 with Hubbard running 15 routes to Dowdle s 6. This could make both only borderline starts moving forward despite the heavy lean on the run game.