The Panthers running back room gamble
The Panthers let Rico Dowdle walk in free agency and didn't make any major moves to the room. Can Jonathon Brooks return to his Texas form?
There are lots of questions about how the Carolina Panthers offense will look under the play calling of Offensive Coordinator Brad Idzik.
Idzik’s play sequencing may heavily depend on how the running back group fares.
Rico Dowdle, last year’s leading rusher and celebration pump master, went to Pittsburgh in free agency.
The Panthers only additions to the room was adding AJ Dillon in free agency and undrafted free agent Miles Davis out of Utah State.
Veteran Chuba Hubbard is arguably coming off his worst season in most basic and advanced metrics. Hubbard was replaced as the primary back shortly after returning from his calf injury that sidelined him for two games. Hubbard said he likely rushed his return from the injury.
He turned 134 carries into 511 yards (3.8 YPC) and one touchdown. His longest run of the season was 14 yards, which occurred in week 2. Hubbard did catch 39 passes for 224 yards and scored three receiving touchdowns. Hubbard’s carries and rushing yardage total were the second lowest of his career while his one rushing touchdown was the lowest.
The biggest question in the room is how will Jonathan Brooks look coming back from his ACL tear from December 2025?
The Panthers traded up six spots to get Brooks in the second round of the 2024 draft. To move from No. 52 to No. 46, the Panthers gave up two fifth rounders in picks 142 and 155. That is a significant draft capital investment for a non-premium position, especially one that was coming off a December 2023 ACL tear. Two fifth rounders may not seem like a huge cost, but the Panthers were coming off their worst season of all-time and negligence with draft capital was a contributor.
Brooks only had nine carries in 2024 before tearing his ACL on that final one. If Brooks is able to regain the form he had at Texas, it would be a major boon on how the offense can operate.
Brooks did participate in Panthers OTAs and members of the defense had high marks on what they saw.
“He’s super quick. He’s getting in and out of his cuts. It’s ridiculous,” Nic Scourton told Joe Person of The Athletic at the beginning of June.
Jaycee Horn told Person,“I forgot how fast he is. He had a couple plays where he turned on the jets. He’s probably the guy I’m most excited to see coming back.”
Will the Panthers ease Brooks into the action in training camp or turn him loose? That remains to be seen.
Trevor Etienne seems locked into the third spot on the depth chart entering his second season. He carried the ball 20 times for 94 yards. He didn’t register a carry in 11 games and was primarily used as a returner. As a returner, he fumbled three times, losing two of them.
After missing the entire 2024 season due to a neck stinger, Dillon registered just 12 carries in Philadelphia last season playing behind Saquon Barkley and Tank Bigsby.
If the running back room cannot provide the boost Dowdle did last season, the Panthers will have to rely heavily on the passing attack. Bryce Young eclipsed 3,000 yards passing for the first time in his career last season by 11 yards.
Brooks is likely the most important player in the room. The fact that the Panthers didn’t make any major additions sends a message that they feel great with where he’s at. If he adds the explosive element the running game needs and Hubbard plays more to his 2024 form, then the Panthers will have a lot of options offensively.
If the running game falters, then Young will have to carry the load and he has not shown he can do that on a consistent basis yet.