Throughout the offseason, analysts tried to drum up a hype train for Carolina Panthers running back Jonathon Brooks.
While we admitted that Brooks probably has the highest ceiling of any of the team's rushers, we also advised caution—as Brooks hasn't proven that he can stay healthy at this level. Plus, the organization has always been rather high on starter Chuba Hubbard.
Now that Brooks is headed to the operating room and the injured reserve because of a nagging groin tweak, it's never been clearer that Hubbard is Carolina's guy at the position—and will be for the foreseeable future.
And according to Dan Graziano at ESPN, the Panthers never had any intention to hand over the top spot to Brooks, despite all the speculation:
Third-year Panthers running
back Jonathon Brooks was a player the fantasy community was excited about. Carolina is excited about him, too, and happy he was healthy to start the season. But as we tried to tell you in the preseason, the Panthers love Chuba Hubbard and were never ready to hand the starting RB job over to Brooks (who's already dealing with another injury) without representative evidence that he could handle the job at the NFL level. That might still come at some point, but it's clear that Hubbard is the main guy, and I don't believe they're upset about that.
Wednesday's news is, obviously, a bummer for both Brooks and the Panthers. The 2024 second-round pick, who played in only three games prior to 2026 due to a pair of ACL tears, is now expected to miss at least six weeks.
However, the good news is that Hubbard appears to have recovered his old form. After an injury-riddled 2025, Hubbard appears far more explosive and efficient—and closer to the 2024 version of himself.
With Brooks sidelined yet again, and second-year back Trevor Etienne still on injured reserve, the backup gig should fall into the lap of veteran AJ Dillon. The Panthers may also add another body, as they're reportedly expected to work out former Los Angeles Charger and Washington Commander Austin Ekeler.
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This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: Insider: Panthers were never handing over RB1 job to Jonathon Brooks
