Last week, we highlighted a piece from NFL Network analytics expert Cynthia Frelund where she selected a player from each team who may be underappreciated. For the Carolina Panthers, Frelund chose backup running back Chuba Hubbard.
Now, we know what you were probably thinking then and what you’re still thinking now. How underappreciated can a second-stringer be, especially at a position that’s been drastically depreciated over the years?
Well, we dug into the numbers—specifically, the analytics—a bit more.
Hubbard, according to Next Gen Stats, was actually the most efficient rusher in the league last season. His 3.18 efficiency rating, which is calculated by taking the total distance a player traveled on rushing plays per rushing yards gained, ranked first amongst all ball carriers in 2022.
In essence, the statistic measures how well a player can get from point A to point B without wasting ground. And based off that result, Hubbard was the best North/South runner in the game.
He also, on average, spent the lowest amount of time behind the line of scrimmage. Measured to a tenth of a second, Hubbard’s mark of 2.53 seconds topped the category—further indicating his efficiency as a rusher last year.
Perhaps unfortunately for the third-year veteran, the Panthers seem intent on devoting much of their backfield work in 2023 to Miles Sanders—whom they signed to a pretty chunky four-year, $25 million pact this offseason. So it seems as though Hubbard really is a bit underappreciated.
