Carolina Panthers Running Back Depth Chart — 2026

A handcuff is the backup who inherits the starter's workload if the starter gets hurt — so the Panthers handcuff is whoever sits directly behind Chuba Hubbard on the depth chart above. Rostering him is how you protect a starting back you have already spent a pick on. More on what a handcuff is.

Jonathon Brooks, the 46th pick of the 2024 draft, has no professional record to read — two seasons lost to knee injuries — and he opened camp taking first-team reps. Chuba Hubbard is the incumbent at 41.7% of the snaps, though his running was the weak part of it at -0.30 yards over expected per carry, 44th of 49.

Hubbard has played 77 of 85 team games across 5 seasons, 90.6%.

What would come free is 134 carries and 39 targets on 41.7% of the snaps — a lead role, but not a dominant one.

Brooks was taken in the second round, 46th overall, and has never played a professional down. That is the whole file on him: draft position and a medical history. Trevor Etienne is on IR. He has played but not enough to rank — 3 targets in 17 games on 19 pass snaps, under the 100-snap reporting line. AJ Dillon's availability line comes from Philadelphia: 55 of 68 team games across 4 seasons.

This is the live question in the room, and the honest answer is that camp decides it.

Hubbard took 41.7% of the snaps, 33rd among running backs — a starter's share without a starter's efficiency. Etienne is now on IR, and his 2025 work already sat under every reporting floor: 19 pass snaps against the 100 needed, 3 targets against the 25 needed.

Which leaves Brooks, about whom nothing is measurable. The reporting below is the only evidence there is, and it is worth reading carefully rather than skimming — first-team reps in July are not a depth chart in September.

On last season's evidence it is Hubbard, which is the part most likely to change.

Hubbard drew 39 targets, 2.60 a game, catching 30 for 223 yards. He played 45.5% of the pass snaps against 41.7% of snaps overall — a tilt of +3.8 toward throwing downs, not away from them.

Nobody else in the room has a receiving line. Etienne drew 3, Dillon 3 in Philadelphia, and Brooks has never taken a snap.

So the receiving work is not currently contested by anyone with a record. What the head coach has said about Brooks in the passing game is below, and it is the single most consequential thing reported about this backfield.

Reporting from a previous season, kept because a role a player has already held is the best evidence available about the one he might hold next. It describes 2025, not now.

Brooks re-tore his right knee in his third career game during the 2024 season and then missed the entire 2025 season. (NFL.com, 2026-04-29)

What the beat is reporting, last refreshed 2026-08-26. Nothing here is measured — it is reporting, attributed and dated.

Jonathon Brooks said he had been cleared by his surgeon and that the training staff and coaches have a plan for him (NFL.com, 2026-04-29).

NFL Network's Cameron Wolfe reported there will be no limitations on Brooks entering training camp (NBC Sports, relaying NFL Network, 2026-07-23).

The Charlotte Observer's Mike Kaye reported Brooks took first-team reps at Thursday's practice, with Chuba Hubbard and Trevor Etienne also working with the ones (NBC Sports, relaying the Charlotte Observer, 2026-07-23).

Head coach Dave Canales on Brooks at the opening of camp: he feels great, he feels strong, he looks fast, he looks like the guy Canales remembers (NFL.com, 2026-07-24).

Dave Canales said Jonathon Brooks has looked great in the run game and also in the pass game (Draft Sharks, 2026-06-05).

Canales said half of Brooks's college highlights were screen passes (Draft Sharks, 2026-06-05).

Canales said Brooks has a great ability to catch the ball, track it and transition once he catches it (Draft Sharks, 2026-06-05).

The team's pre-camp preview says Hubbard has been slotted back in as the clear leader, and projects Trevor Etienne into a special teams role along with supplementary use in the run game (Panthers.com, 2026-07-16).

The team's pre-camp preview frames Brooks' open question as game speed, asking how quickly he can adapt back after so much time sidelined (Panthers.com, 2026-07-16).

Carolina signed AJ Dillon to a one-year deal, adding a veteran early-down and short-yardage body behind Hubbard and Brooks (Wisconsin Sports Heroics, relaying Jordan Schultz, 2026-03-18).