The Carolina Panthers have placed leading rusher Chuba Hubbard on injured reserve with a Grade 2 calf strain, ending his 2024 NFL campaign.
Hubbard, who has set career highs in virtually every statistical category this season will now sit out the final 2 games of the season out of an abundance of caution. The NFL’s 6th leading rusher this season reportedly complained about discomfort in his leg following Friday’s practice. Additional imaging revealed the strain, and with Carolina well outside of playoff contention, the club wasted little time in shutting him down for the year.
Carolina is already without rookie RB Jonathon Brooks whom the club selected 46th overall in this year’s draft due to a knee injury, leaving Raheem Blackshear as the only healthy back on their 53 man roster at the moment. The club is expected to promote Mike Boone or Emani Bailey from their practice squad, and may even bring in another body for some depth before they take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this weekend.
The Panthers have every reason to take precautions with Hubbard, as they recently inked the Canadian back to a 4 year, $33.2M contract extension earlier this season. The 25 year old will finish his 4th NFL campaign with 1,195 rushing yards, 10 rushing TDs, 43 receptions for 171 yards and a score, and 1,366 yards from scrimmage.
If the season were to end today, the Panthers would be selecting 8th overall in the 2025 NFL Draft with their 4-11 record. Without either of their top 2 backs, and having previously traded Diontae Johnson to Baltimore, Carolina could potentially sneak into the top 5 of next year’s draft with another 2 losses and some help from other teams.
The Panthers take on the Bucs in a 1pm ET showdown in Tampa Bay on Sunday.
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.