Chuba Hubbard's Updated Fantasy Outlook After Christian McCaffrey Injury
Joseph Zucker@@JosephZucker
Featured ColumnistSeptember 24, 2021
The Carolina Panthers will once again have to build an offensive scheme without their best player after Christian McCaffrey exited Thursday night's contest against the Houston Texans with a hamstring injury.
McCaffrey totaled 31 yards on seven carries before he was ruled out for the remainder of the game in the second quarter.
The 2019 All-Pro was limited to three games last season, with Mike Davis serving as the primary ball-carrier in his absence. Davis now plies his trade with the Atlanta Falcons, and Carolina replaced him with fourth-round draft pick Chuba Hubbard.
Hubbard joined McCaffrey and Reggie Bonnafon, another holdover from 2020. The Panthers subsequently released Bonnafon and brought in Royce Freeman.
Between Hubbard and Freeman, the former figures to become the No. 1 option with McCaffrey out.
The former Oklahoma State star had a massive 2019 season, running for 2,094 yards and 21 touchdowns. His production as a junior (133 carries, 625 yards, five touchdowns) fell short of expectations, but the difficulties posed by the COVID-19 pandemic make it difficult to glean much from how a lot of players performed.
In general, Hubbard's value as a pass-catcher is likely to be limited because he finished with 33 receptions for 479 yards and three scores over three seasons.
Depending on the severity of McCaffrey's injury, Hubbard should get enough touches to be a quality addition off the waiver wire for fantasy managers in need of a running back.
Context Matters @dwainmcfarlandChuba Hubbard move to low-end RB2 status for any games missed by Christian McCaffrey. Hubbard played in all situations this preseason, including short-down-distance, long-down-distance and the two-minute offense. Royce Freeman should be rostered in deeper leagues. #CARvsHOU
Freeman turned just 25 in February, but his rapid fall within the Denver Broncos offense is concerning from a fantasy perspective.
A third-round pick in 2018, he had 521 yards and five touchdowns on the ground as a rookie. Two years later, he was looking up at Melvin Gordon III and Phillip Lindsay on the depth chart.
Although Freeman shouldn't be written off altogether, there isn't a reason right now to think his trajectory will be drastically different in Carolina.