Panthers turn to D’Onta Foreman, Chuba Hubbard

With starting tailback Christian McCaffrey out in Carolina, it’s next man up on the depth chart.

D’Onta Foreman (pictured), signed as a free agent from the Titans earlier this year, becomes the starter. The new No. 2 will be Chuba Hubbard.

Foreman has 12 carries for 37 yards in six games this season. Hubbard has six for 34 in six games.

Hubbard arrived as a fourth-round pick from Oklahoma State in 2021. In 17 games as a rookie, he had 172 carries for 612 yards and 25 catches for 174 yards in 17 games. He started 10 games; McCaffrey missed 10 games last year due to injury.

Foreman became the go-to guy for the Titans last year, after Derrick Henry suffered a foot injury in Week Eight against the Colts. Foreman finished the year with 133 carries for 566 yards and three touchdowns, and nine catches for 123 yards.

Foreman was a third-round pick of the Texans in 2017. An All-American in 2016 at Texas, he rushed for 2,023 yards in his last year with the Longhorns. He was considering retirement when the Titans called.

“He finished really well last year,” Panthers G.M. Scott Fitterer told #PFTPM in May 2022. “He’s a bigger back. . . . We have Chuba Hubbard here, who’s dynamic. . . . We needed a bigger guy. We needed that hammer, and he brings something to our offense when you’re trying to finish a game when it’s a four-minute offense. Foreman’s got the ability to do that. We’ve seen this already on the practice field. He’s a pro out there. He runs everything. All of his runs he finishes on those. He catches the ball well. He’s picked up the offense quickly. . . . I thought we got good value for the amount that we’re paying him. If he can come here and help us that’d be great.”

Foreman now becomes the top option, with 11 games to go in the 2022 season. He’s playing under a one-year, $2 million deal.

Panthers turn to D’Onta Foreman, Chuba Hubbard originally appeared on Pro Football Talk