The Carolina Panthers enter a pivotal season in what has been the Bryce Young era of the franchise. The QB is entering his fourth NFL season and this will likely make-or-break his future with the Panthers. But while Young has shown flashes of upside in the passing game, Carolina has shown it wants to run the ball to take pressure off the young QB.
The team didn’t find much success on the ground last season, outside of a short stretch of play from Rico Dowdle in mid-October to early-November. With Dowdle gone, Chuba Hubbard will resume his role as the top running back. But might another forgotten early-round pick — Jonathon Brooks — emerge as a fantasy asset in the backfield?
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Yahoo analyst Justin Boone was joined by Sharp Football’s Rich Hribar to talk Brooks’ outlook for 2026 on the latest episode of the Yahoo Fantasy Forecast.
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Hribar mentions how unsuccessful the Panthers were running the ball toward the back half of the 2025 season, ranking near the bottom in success rate, yards per carry and explosive runs. Hubbard was playing through a calf injury last season that held him back and he should enter 2026 healthy. But if Hubbard falters early on, Hribar believes the door is open for Brooks to take over.
Brooks, a second-rounder back in 2024, hasn’t played since his rookie season, in which he tore his ACL a second time (after tearing it in college at Texas). Hribar makes it clear that he’s “no doctor” but some have said Brooks should come back from the second tear stronger.
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So, the back coming off two ACL tears may not be as big a glaring red flag as one would think. Brooks’ fantasy football value really comes down to how Hubbard looks early on, but Hribar is taking shots on both players going into 2026.
Boone chimes in at the end that Brooks is turning 23 years old in July, still very young without a lot of miles on his legs after sitting out all of 2025. That should give him a shot to get his career back on track.
