With the 2025 season in the rearview, it’s time to reflect on what exactly happened in all of the phases in the game and look at what can and should be done with them going into 2026. We start with my
personal favorite part of the game, running the football.
How It Went
Chuba Hubbard was the team’s feature back in 2024 with Jonathon Brooks hurt and Miles Sanders struggling. He signed a decently large contract for a running back near the end of that season, so the safe assumption was that he’d be the team’s bell cow back in 2025. That Panthers brought that into question by signing Rico Dowdle fresh off a 1,000 yard season. That would lead one to assume that it would be running back by committee, but that didn’t end up to be true either. Hubbard got the lion’s share of the carries to start the season while Dowdle was forced to feed off scraps. Then, Hubbard left the lineup to injury, allowing Dowdle to step in. He took advantage of a couple of weaker matchups to explode for nearly 500 yards of total offense in just two starts. That turned Dowdle into the starting back while Hubbard was left with little work. Eventually the carries evened out to end the season.
As the season went on, it became quite clear that Hubbard was the more effective back, but the coaching staff seemed hesitant to go back on the switch they made midseason. While Dowdle finished with over 1,000 rushing yards, over half of those came in just three games. Dowdle wore out as the season went on and became one of the least effective backs in the league at fighting through contact (based on a chart he himself Tweeted out, curiously enough). Meanwhile Hubbard picked up steam, but he didn’t start getting more work until the last couple of games of the season.
All of that coalesced into a rushing attack that wasn’t as effective as the Panthers would have wanted. They tried to lean on the ground game at several points throughout the season, but the lack of explosiveness most weakness and general lack of consistency proved problematic. When all was said and done, the Panthers finished middle of the pack in yards per carry. However, they struggled to use the ground game to reliably pick up first downs and touchdowns.
The path forward
Rico Dowdle is a free agent, and the chatter after the season would make it seem he’s unlikely to be back. Dowdle commented that his diminished role at the end of the season would factor into his decision on whether or not he re-signs. He also hired a new agent going into free agency. Dan Morgan and Dave Canales seem to value culture. They made that clear when they cited that as a factor in their decision to give Hubbard a long extension the previous season. Dowdle’s diminishing effectiveness along with his apparent lack of awareness regarding it don’t seem to be the best culture fit. Hubbard is a year younger, under contract, and exactly the type of person the Panthers want. He would seem to be the preferred option between the two.
Waiting in the wings are draft picks from the last two drafts. Jonathon Brooks is still technically a Panther. He’s touched the ball a total of 12 times since his first ACL tear in November 2023 while back at Texas. He’s essentially missed two entire seasons of football with two torn ACLs, so there’s absolutely no way to know what the Panthers have there. But it could be something! Along with Brooks, Travis Etienne will try to break into the backfield after spending most of his rookie season on special teams. He had a couple of nice moments in spot duty earlier in the season.
My guess is Dowdle walks in the hopes of finding greener pastures and more carries. The Panthers go back to relying more on Hubbard while making a minor investment in a free agent running back to hedge against the health and development of Brooks and Etienne.
