The Panthers traded away their best player and went ahead and beat the Buccaneers anyway. Go figure.
A big reason why Carolina was able to pull off the massive upset was because of the play of D’Onta Foreman and Chuba Hubbard. The RB duo combined for 218 total yards and are now two of the biggest names on this week’s waiver wire.
Our experts dish below on which one you will want to roster and what to expect from both going forward.
Sean Koerner: Hubbard operated as the lead back before he was forced out of the game due to an ankle injury. Foreman took advantage of both the injury and the positive game script to rip off a 15/118/0 rushing line.
Going forward, I would lean toward Hubbard being the more valuable back considering he will see the majority of the pass-catching work out of the backfield, with Foreman possibly seeing more early down work and goal-line carries.
With the Panthers expected to be in more negative game scripts, I rank Hubbard as a high-end RB3/Flex and Foreman as a mid-range RB3/Flex.
Mike Triplett: Don’t be fooled by the final stat lines here. Despite Foreman’s monster output (145 yards on 17 touches), Hubbard actually got the start and out-snapped Foreman 22-14 through three quarters before leaving with an ankle injury that was reportedly minor.
Plus, Hubbard should be more effective in the passing game if the Panthers fall back down to earth and don’t have the luxury of playing with big leads in the future. Hubbard is also the younger back, so the Panthers might want to feature him a little more down the stretch to see what they have for the future.
Unfortunately, the downside of both RBs being effective is that they will probably remain stuck in a timeshare for the foreseeable future.
