In the 2024 season, Panthers RB Chuba Hubbard rushed for 1,195 yards and 10 touchdowns, numbers that hadn’t been touched in Carolina since the days of Christian McCaffrey. He secured a four-year, $33.2 million extension and rose to prominence as a primary ball carrier. With Carolina finally providing coaching consistency for the first time in his NFL career, Hubbard arrived at minicamp with positive energy. But a single remark made during practice unexpectedly drew attention for the wrong reason.

While praising the updated RB room—now including rookie Trevor Etienne and veteran Rico Dowdle—Hubbard said to the reporters, “Usually in the running back room, sometimes it can be a little off.” Joe Person from The Athletic saw it as a subtle dig at Miles Sanders, noting, “While praising Panthers’ new RBs, Chuba Hubbard seemed to take a veiled shot at Miles Sanders, saying RB room often was “a little off.” Otherwise, Hubbard’s B-day was like any other day: Running hard, jawing w/ Jaycee Horn and hitting the JUGs machine.”

That didn’t sit well with Hubbard. He called out The New York Times on X for reportedly misrepresenting his words as part of a media manipulation tactic. “I keep to myself and do my job. Please don’t put drama around me. I’ve been blessed to be able to share the room with some of the best. I also am blessed to have made a bunch of life time friends fr. It’s all love and always been. No fake narratives involving me. Preciate it!”

And as it was his birthday, it still didn’t faze him. On his 26th birthday, Chuba Hubbard was out discussing trash with Jaycee Horn, practicing on the JUGS machine, and unwilling to take a break. “I’m gonna take me some time off. It’s my birthday, so a couple of days. But after that, straight back to work. It’s a big year,” he said. With his old partner Tommy Tremble sidelined with a back injury, Hubbard was working solo on the JUGS machine.

“He would’ve been out here catching with me per usual if he could’ve,” Hubbard said of Tremble. “But he’ll bounce back. I mean, we have the best staff when it comes to training. He’ll be back by the season.” The intensity Hubbard brings isn’t fake. And apparently, neither is the friendship. But with false headlines swirling, Hubbard’s still locked in—loud on the field, quiet off it, and fully ready for another breakout year. And while the national media tried to force a rift into Carolina’s locker room, Bleacher Report offered a very different narrative: respect.

Why Carolina’s rushing duo could quietly break NFL history in 2025

In a feature highlighting the Top 10 running back duos entering the 2025 season, Moe Moton labeled Carolina’s duo as the “most underrated” in the NFL. “The Carolina Panthers will field the most underrated running back duo. They have the only tandem that racked up 1,000-plus rushing yards apiece last season.” That’s not fluff. That’s historic potential.

Chuba Hubbard is coming off a career-best 1,195 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns, while free-agent addition Rico Dowdle piled up 1,079 yards for the Cowboys in 2024, despite not being featured early in the season. The upside? Both backs are capable of hitting the century mark on the ground in any given week, and the receiving game could unlock even more. “Last year, Dowdle caught 39 passes for 249 yards and three touchdowns,” wrote Moton. “While Hubbard hauled in 43 passes for an inefficient 171 yards and a touchdown.” That means Dowdle could become Bryce Young’s most reliable check-down option, while Hubbard continues to pound the ground game.

And if they both go off again? It’s rare territory. Only seven teams in NFL history have had two 1,000-yard rushers in a season. The Panthers did it in 2009 with Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams. And if Hubbard and Dowdle repeat the feat in 2025, they’d become the first franchise ever to do it twice with different duos. Forget fake narratives—this is the real headline. The Panthers didn’t just rebuild the locker room. They may have rebuilt one of the league’s most dangerous rushing attacks.