The Carolina Panthers appeared to enter Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season with a backfield split that would break down at least somewhat evenly between Chuba Hubbard and Jonathon Brooks.
But in their 59-37 loss to the Chicago Bears, the Panthers didn’t split things evenly at all.
That showed both in the basic stats and when you dig deeper into it, and Hubbard comes away looking like the big winner.
Hubbard ran 10 times for 49 yards and a touchdown. In comparison, Brooks had four carries for 14 yards. Even AJ Dillon ran five times for 28 yards.
Hubbard was also targeted three times, catching all three for 38 yards and a touchdown. Brooks was targeted twice and did catch one and turn it into 48 yards, so that salvaged his day even with a lesser workload.
The game script was obviously a bit tricky here, too, because the Bears kept scoring. But the reality of the underlying numbers is that they also point to Hubbard, too.
Chuba Hubbard Snaps vs. Jonathon Brooks
Hubbard was on the field a lot more than Brooks, according to official snap count data from the Panthers team website on Monday morning.
Of the Panthers’ 68 offensive snaps, Hubbard was on the field for 48 of them. That works out to 71%.
Brooks got onto the field for just 13 plays, a 19% rate. He did run or get targeted on six of those 13 snaps, so that’s a decent rate, but he clearly was a distant second as far as getting into the game.
“They want to be judicious with Brooks, and the fact that the game got out of hand kept his workload down as well,” wrote the analysis on the Panthers’ official team website.
And further down the depth chart, the bruising veteran Dillon was out there for seven plays, about 10% of the action, as he received five carries in his brief action.
Dillon’s usage was a fluke — he got all five of his carries on the Panthers’ final drive when they had given up on the game down 22 points.
But the Hubbard versus Brooks split is certainly notable, and it was all Hubbard in Week 1.
Panthers Snap Counts
The rest of the Panthers’ snap counts broke down about the way you’d expect.
Jalen Coker led the wide receivers with 57-of-68 snaps, 84%.
Tetairoa McMillan was right behind him, being on the field for 56 snaps.
And while Xavier Legette was quiet, he did play 36 snaps, 53% of the possible offensive plays.
Further down the offensive depth chart was Jimmy Horn, who played 14 snaps of offense (21%). And the Panthers also gave 12 snaps (18%) to wide receiver Brycen Tremayne.
The tight end mix was a bit more balanced, but it was expected TE1 Tommy Tremble who led that room with 38 snaps (56% of the offensive plays).
Mitchell Evans was out there for 27 snaps, while Darren Waller got 24.
The Panthers will hope to stay closer to their opponent in their next game, which should clear up any sort of role uncertainties even more.
Panthers Snap Counts: Big Problem for Jonathon Brooks vs. Chuba Hubbard