How Panthers RB Chuba Hubbard’s strong start can be explained by this one stat
It’s tough to say that one stat could encapsulate all that Chuba Hubbard has done so far this season — not only as a running back, but also as a leader, someone who embodies what this plucky Carolina Panthers team is all about.
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But this one stat comes eerily close.
And it deals with Hubbard’s ability to prevail through contact.
Hubbard notched over 100 rushing yards after contact against the Philadelphia Eagles this past weekend. It was 102 yards, to be exact, per Pro Football Focus. That marked an overwhelming majority of his 120 total rushing yards in a close game in which he also ran in a touchdown — his sixth total TD of the season — and added a game-changing fourth-and-1 pick-up, too.
This yards-after-contact statistic didn’t only show up this past week, when Carolina moved to 3-2 on the season and took firmer control of the NFC South. It’s shown up a lot as of late. In fact, Hubbard’s yards-after-contact total has ascended week-by-week: 23 yards in Week 1, then 36 in Week 2, then 47 Week 3, then 72 Week 4 and then 102.
These are a lot of numbers. And sometimes football data doesn’t precisely align with what is actually happening on the field.
But in this case, what the numbers say about the way Hubbard is running is “absolutely” true, offensive coordinator Brad Idzik said.
“That aligns with who Chuba is as a player, a person,” Idzik told reporters Thursday morning. “He’s going to outwork you, he’s going to outlast you, he’s going to out-prepare you. That goes all the way back to the spring and how he prepares his body and callouses it up for the season. And then it carries right into game day — where, as some people wear down throughout the game, it feels like he gets stronger because he’s prepared for that.
“And then his mentality takes over. When it’s fourth-and-1, and you watch him grind out a 16-, 17-yard run there on a crucial drive, that’s the embodiment of Chuba being a captain for our team. We want to put all of our chips in the players who represent our play style, and Chuba is certainly that. As the games go, and the moments become larger, you just lean into those guys who make those plays for you, and Chuba has done a great job down the stretch being that for us.”
The effusive praise from the offensive play-caller doesn’t just stop at the yards-after-contact statistic. There are other numbers that reveal Hubbard’s remarkable 2026 season to date. A related one: Hubbard has triple the amount of rushing yards in the second half than he does in the first half this year (321 yards in the second vs. 105 in the first); he also has triple the amount of rushing touchdowns between second and first, too (three TDs in the second half vs. one TD in the first).
If you look at his more general stats, Hubbard is soaring there, too. The 26-year-old, 6-foot-1, 210-pound tailback is now the fourth-leading rusher in Carolina Panthers franchise history with 4,112 yards, recently surpassing his mentor Christian McCaffrey, who notched 3,980 rushing yards with the Panthers. McCaffrey was traded in the middle of his sixth season; Hubbard is in the midst of his sixth season with Carolina right now.
Hubbard also has 426 rushing yards in 2026 so far; that’s ninth in the league and third among players who’ve already experienced their bye week (the Chiefs’ Kenneth Walker and the Lions’ Jahmyr Gibbs are in front of him).
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Those 426 rushing yards heading into Week 7 at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers put Hubbard on pace for over 1,300 rushing yards.
There’s one major caveat to this, of course. This only happens if he stays healthy. The fourth-round pick of the 2021 NFL Draft told reporters that he was in “the best shape of my life” prior to the season — a concern after battling a calf injury last year.
That’s served Hubbard and the Panthers well so far. Hubbard played in 74 of 79 offensive snaps on Sunday — about 94% of the snaps. That’s more than every other offensive player not an offensive lineman or named Bryce Young. And by a lot; receiver Tetairoa McMillan was next up, and he played 60 snaps.
The fact that Hubbard’s superpower also requires a lot of touches is something the Panthers’ coaching staff needs is aware of, Idzik said. It’s a constant discussion point.
As Idzik explains, there’s a “maturity” the Panthers ask of Hubbard.
“It’s of saying, ‘Hey, we don’t want you to ever govern yourself on any play when you’re in there,’” Idzik said. “There’s gotta be a self-awareness of it. If you feel like you can’t give 100% of what you got because you just had an explosive run, or you had a really clean pass-pro rep or whatever the situation was, you trust the guy behind you just like we do. Take yourself out. We know this is not a sign of weakness.
“That’s what you kind of want to instill in those guys who have that mentality that Chuba does. It’s like, ‘This is not a knock on who you are or your determination to grind out every game.’ This is so we have you for the whole season. This makes the Panthers better.”
Hubbard’s play distribution might be regulated a bit this week. Reserve running back AJ Dillon missed last week with an ankle injury but was a full participant in Wednesday’s practice and appears good to go. Trevor Etienne, one week removed off the injured reserve, is healthy, too, and proved it with several moments of explosiveness in the punt return and kick return game.
Still, a lot of that onus falls on Hubbard.
“It shows trust in your brother,” Idzik said. “It shows trust in Trevor going in and getting a touch, AJ going in and getting a touch. We trust those guys. I know Chuba does as well. He loves that room. He leads that room with great pride. …
“And for him to be able to say, ‘Hey, I need one right here.’ We know you’re going to want to go right back in. But then at the same time, we know the guys behind you, we trust them to carry that torch. And to be inspired by your play.”
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This story was originally published October 22, 2026 at 12:35 PM.
