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The Carolina Panthers made Jonathon Brooks the first running back off the board in the 2024 NFL Draft, but they already had two running backs with starting experience in Chuba Hubbard and Miles Sanders.
Sanders made the 2022 Pro Bowl, but Hubbard is younger and came on strong last season. Brooks ran for 1,139 yards in his final season with the Texas Longhorns, but he enters the season on the PUP list, so he will miss at least four weeks.
Which Carolina Panthers running back should you draft? Let's take a look.
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Chuba Hubbard 2024 Fantasy Football Outlook
Hubbard took over as the Panthers' starting running back in Week 6. He took double-digit carries in 11 of his 12 starts. In four of his last six games, he carried the ball over 20 times.
His efficiency was lackluster. He averaged just 3.79 yards per carry. But with that high volume, he was able to finish as the RB27 in season-long PPR and the RB19 from Week 6 to Week 18.
Lock Chuba Hubbard in as a low-end RB2 with upside for the first 4 weeks of the season! 🔒 pic.twitter.com/6ZXXJjVx1q https://t.co/WnFvaD7FUf
— Jacob Dunne (@AintDunneYet) August 27, 2024
Hubbard enters this season atop the depth chart. He won't have to worry about Jonathon Brooks for at least four weeks, but when Brooks gets healthy, Hubbard could lose carries to the rookie.
Miles Sanders 2024 Fantasy Football Outlook
Sanders averaged 5.0 yards per carry during his four years as a Philadelphia Eagle, but his production took a nose dive when he left the friendly confines of the City of Brotherly Love.
Last season, his first in Carolina, Sanders only gained 432 yards on 129 carries and scored just one touchdown. His success rate was only 40.3%, and his yards per carry figure of 3.3 was 1.6 yards fewer than he averaged in his 2022 Pro Bowl season.
After losing his starting job in Week 6, Sanders was a non-factor for most of the season. From Week 7 on, Sanders had eight or fewer carries in eight games, including five games with three or fewer carries.
Sanders enters the season as the RB2 in a poor-quality offense with a bad offensive line, and he will likely fall to RB3 when Jonathon Brooks returns.
Jonathon Brooks' Injury
Brooks tore his ACL in a late-season game against TCU last season. He had already run for over 100 yards in that game, his second-straight 100-yard game and seventh straight with over 98 yards.
ACL injuries typically take a little under a year for professional athletes to recover from. Brooks enters the season on the PUP list, which means that he isn't eligible to return until Week 5 at the earliest.
Jonathan Brooks - the next Breece Hall?#Panthers pic.twitter.com/72aNOJ4zjB
— Deepak Chona, MD. SportsMedAnalytics (@SportMDAnalysis) September 1, 2024
In Week 5, the Panthers have a road contest against the Chicago Bears on October 7, nearly 11 months after Brooks suffered his injury. Even if he does end up returning, the Panthers might limit his volume in his first couple of games back.
Who Should I Draft?
Many fantasy managers are avoiding the Panthers' running backs because they are all below-average NFL talents. But that means that they are going later in drafts, making them potential value picks and targets for managers who utilize Zero RB draft strategies.
Brooks is being drafted first, with an average draft position (ADP) of 98.2 in National Fantasy Football Championship drafts, making him the RB30. Brooks looked good in college, but drafting a rookie who is coming off an injury that early is risky, especially when you know he's going to miss at least a quarter of the season.
Hubbard is being picked at an ADP of 133.4, making him the RB43. There are few starting running backs available that late in the draft, and Hubbard is likely to overperform at that draft position. He finished better than RB43 in 16 games last season.
Sanders is falling to an ADP of 259.4. He's going later than Alexander Mattison, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, and D'Onta Foreman in most drafts. At that point, the picks are dart throws, and most won't produce meaningful points unless someone ahead of them gets injured.
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