Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales speaks to the media after a very competitive Day 1 of NFL minicamp By Mike Kaye| Charlotte Observer
The Carolina Panthers know you’re fed up with all their losing. They are, too.
To be a Panthers fan — or to play for the team — has been such an exercise in futility for the past seven years that there has to be a broken mirror in Bank of America Stadium somewhere. In those seven seasons, the Panthers have not made the playoffs, have limped to a losing season every year and are a combined 36-80.
Yet the Panthers are full of hope as they gather for summer minicamp in Charlotte this week, with players such as running back Chuba Hubbard leading the way.
Hubbard scored a massive contract extension in November, with a base value of $33.2 million. He followed that up by finishing with the 2024 season with career highs in rushing yards (1,195) and total touchdowns (11). He’s become a pillar of the Panthers, a realistic option in fantasy football, and as a side venture, a promising clothing designer whose brand of luxury streetwear is dropping soon.
What Hubbard hasn’t done is won.
Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard runs through a drill during the first day of minicamp at the practice fields behind Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC on Tuesday, June 10, 2025. Melissa Melvin-Rodriguez mrodriguez@charlotteobserver.com
Chuba, as everyone calls him because it’s so fun to say, has played four seasons in Charlotte. He was drafted in 2021 and has mostly been the team’s No. 1 back since then. But he has had five head coaches if you count the interim ones, with Dave Canales following Matt Rhule, Steve Wilks, Frank Reich and Chris Tabor on owner David Tepper’s hiring list.
Hubbard has been one of the best parts of one of the Panthers’ worst stretches in franchise history — a 19-49 mark over the past four seasons, which means Carolina has lost 72% of the time.
Said Hubbard as we talked after minicamp practice on Tuesday: “Guys that have been here throughout the years, through the ups and downs, they’re like, ‘Yeah, we’re sick and tired of it.’ The new people that we brought in from winning cultures, they’re like, ‘We’re ready. We’re ready to win here.’ So we’re all kind of coming together. Building a good chemistry. The right culture. And it’s all centered around winning.”
As Hubbard’s star has risen with the Panthers, his lively personality has also emerged. Hubbard, quarterback Bryce Young and cornerback Jaycee Horn have a running dialogue of trash talk at the current practices.
“We’ve got a respect for each other,” Hubbard said, “and we love to compete. So we know when we’re out here, I’m pushing for my best. Jaycee is pushing for his. Bryce is pushing for his. And if it’s not that, we’re gonna get on each other’s (butt) about it.”
Carolina Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard high steps into the end zone for the game winning touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte on Sunday, December 22, 2024. The Panthers defeated the Cardinals in overtime 36-30. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
Hubbard will be the clear No. 1 back for the Panthers once again this season. He had 293 touches in 2024, which was almost four times more than anyone else on the team. New signee Rico Dowdle will figure into the mix as well.
Young is installed as QB1, of course. But as for the Carolina wide receivers, it’s a little harder to figure out who’s going to be the No. 1 threat. Will it be veteran Adam Thielen? Second-year man Xavier Legette? Rookie Tetairoa McMillan?
Thielen has led the team in receiving yards in his two years as a Panther. Like Hubbard, he’s been a bright spot, but his yardage hasn’t done much for the bottom line. The Panthers have gone 2-15 and 5-12 in those two years.
Thielen, who is 34 and briefly contemplated retirement in the offseason, on Tuesday echoed Hubbard’s theme.
“I think guys are finally sick of being the same ol’, same ol’ Carolina Panthers,” he said. “I think we want to get back to what they did here in the past, in 2015 (when Carolina made the Super Bowl) and some of those other years when they had deep playoff runs and had the crowd involved and the city hyped up. We haven’t had that.”
Yes, we know. We know all too well.
Carolina Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard is congratulated by fans following his game-winning rushing touchdown in overtime to defeat Arizona. Hubbard had career highs in rushing yardage (1195) and total touchdowns (11) in 2024. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
But this Panthers team does seem to be making some strides. After fielding the NFL’s worst defense in 2024, a lot of money has been poured into that side of the ball. Young continues to look more like the confident player he was in the final few games of 2024, as opposed to the lost puppy he was as a rookie. The offensive line, always a huge key, has significant depth.
Goals? Say this for Hubbard — he doesn’t shoot low.
“If the goal isn’t to make the playoffs and win a Super Bowl,” Hubbard said, “you’re selling yourself short. So that’s always been the goal. That’s the goal this year. And I think we’re the closest we’ve ever been.”
For three more months, the Panthers can keep saying that with no pushback.
Come Sept. 7, when the Panthers open at Jacksonville, we’ll find out.