The Christian McCaffrey trade will go down as one of the biggest deals of the 2022 NFL season. While there are plenty of impacts of it from an NFL perspective, it also impacts fantasy football with managers choosing between running backs D’Onta Foreman or Chuba Hubbard on the waiver wire.
McCaffrey’s departure creates a massive void in the Panthers’ backfield. Entering Week 7, the All-Pro running back received 68.5% of Carolina’s rushing attempts this season. Of the 124 rushing attempts from the Panthers’ offense, 14 came from quarterback Baker Mayfield with wide receiver D.J. Moore (six) and wide receiver Laviska Shenault Jr. (two) accounting for another eight.
Related: Week 7 fantasy football rankings
Under offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo, Hubbard and Foreman were rarely used this season. It adds even more uncertainty to the situation, with fantasy football layers forced to decide which of the Panthers’ running backs is worth rolling the dice on.
- Chuba Hubbard stats (2022): 34 rushing yards on six carries, 30 total offensive snaps in six games
- D’Onta Foreman stats (2022): 37 rushing yards on 12 carries, 31 total offensive snaps in six games
Below, we’ll examine the situation in Carolina to determine who fantasy managers should choose from between Chuba Hubbard or D’Onta Foreman in Week 7 and beyond.
Start Chuba Hubbard or D’Onta Foreman in Week 7
It’s difficult to imagine a worse situation for a starting running back in Week 7. In what projects to be a low-scoring game, the Panthers are heavy underdogs to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That’s already a game script that works against the running back’s favor on the team projected to trail throughout, but it’s made even worse because of the opponent.
The Buccaneers have one of the best run defenses in the NFL this season. While it’s not quite as elite as the shutdown unit from previous seasons, Tampa Bay holds opponents to 4.1 yards per carry (8th lowest in NFL) and 109.2 rushing yards per game. Just as important from a fantasy perspective, this unit allowed just three rushing touchdowns through its first six contests.
Related: Best fantasy football matchups in Week 7
However, it’s also fair to address the inconsistency of this run defense. Tampa Bay allowed 100 rushing yards and 5.0 ypc to the New Orleans Saints in Week 2, 189 rushing yards and 5.1 ypc to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 4 and 151 rushing yards with 4.9 ypc against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 5. Things were very different against the Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, and Pittsburgh Steelers.
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers run defense (Week 2, 4, 5): 440 rushing yards (146.7 rush ypg), 5.0 ypc, 3 rushing touchdowns
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers run defense (Week 1, 3, 6): 215 rushing yards (71.6 rush ypg), 2.99 ypc, 0 rushing touchdowns
Considering the state of Carolina’s offense, it suggests that Sunday will unfold in a similar fashion to what happened against the Cowboys, Packers and Steelers. The Panthers likely will need to shift to throwing the ball midway through Sunday’s matchup. Considering Foreman only has 18 career receptions in 32 games, that would push him to the bench if things get out of control for Carolina.
However, betting on Hubbard in Week 7 is also ill-advised. He hasn’t been effective in a primary role during his limited opportunities in the NFL. Because of the challenges presented in this matchup, Hubbard is nothing more than a FLEX option and Foreman is not a recommended start outside of the deepest fantasy leagues.
Evaluating Chuba Hubbard vs D’Onte Foreman rest of season
One small benefit of the situation is McCaffrey’s injury history provides us with some idea of how things could unfold in Carolina. When McCaffrey missed five consecutive games in 2021 from Week 4-8, Hubbard stepped in as a featured piece of the Panthers’ rushing attack. Although, the results weren’t especially appealing from a fantasy perspective.
| Rush Yards | Rush YPG | YPC | Rush TDs | Targets | Rece. Yards | Touches per Game | |
| Chuba Hubbard stats 2021 (Week 4-8) | 329 | 65.8 | 3.7 | 2 | 18 | 88 | 20.4 |
McCaffrey then suffered another injury later in the season, missing the final five games from Week 14-18. Carolina relied heavily on Cam Newton during that stretch, but it also provided Hubbard with a second chance to be the starting running back. Once again, the fourth-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft didn’t meet expectations.
| Rush Yards | Rush YPG | YPC | Rush TDs | Targets | Rece. Yards | Touches per Game | |
| Chuba Hubbard stats 2021 (Week 14-18) | 184 | 37 | 3.7 | 2 | 8 | 22 | 11.2 |
Uninspired by his lack of production in a larger role, Carolina added D’Onta Foreman. He served as a fill-in starter for the Tennessee Titans in 2021, but his numbers were just as disappointing.
- D’Onta Foreman stats as starter (2021): 146 rushing yards, 3.2 ypc, 1 TD, 78 receiving yards in three games
Keep in mind that the Panthers’ offensive line ranks 16th in the NFL in Pro Football Focus’ run-blocking grade. Far more troublesome from a fantasy perspective, Carolina ranks 21st in points per play (0.319) and it runs the fewest offensive plays per game (53.8). None of this bodes well for either D’Onta Foreman or Chuba Hubbard.
We’d still recommend Hubbard as the higher-priority target right now because there is a background of him taking on a versatile role that would allow him to play more snaps. With limited scoring opportunities and considering the current state of the Panthers’ offense, though, neither player is going to make a significant impact for fantasy managers moving forward.
Moving forward, anyone on the Panthers’ offense should be viewed as a bench player and that includes D.J. Moore. No matter who is under center, this offense isn’t being fixed until a high-end quarterback arrives and that won’t happen until 2023 at the earliest. For fantasy mangers desperately seeking to replace the vanished value of Jeff Wilson Jr, you’ll have to look elsewhere.