The Carolina Panthers signed Miles Sanders and Hayden Hurst to big deals in free agency, but eight weeks into the season, the well-paid pair has taken a back seat to a couple of Matt Rhule-era holdovers.
Chuba Hubbard and Tommy Tremble, two 2021 NFL Draft picks, have climbed up the running back and tight end depth charts, respectively, in recent weeks.
HUBBARD SUPPLANTING SANDERS ON PANTHERS DEPTH CHART
Hubbard has started two consecutive games and outpaced Sanders in snaps at major clip — 45 compared to 12 — in Sunday’s 15-13 win over the Houston Texans.
While Hubbard only ran for 28 yards on 15 carries, he also caught two passes on the game-winning drive for 26 yards and a pair of first-down conversions.
Meanwhile, Sanders — who signed a four-year, $25.4 million deal in March — was limited to two carries for no gain. Sanders also ran the wrong route on a game-defining fourth-and-2 play that could have caused wideout Adam Thielen to either drop the converting pass or create a misfire by rookie quarterback Bryce Young. According to head coach Frank Reich, the wrong route was the result of a miscommunication. Luckily for the Panthers, Thielen made a heads-up play.
Sanders struggled throughout the first five games of the season — averaging just 3.1 yards per carry — before suffering a shoulder injury and missing Week 6’s loss to the Miami Dolphins. Hubbard ran for 88 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries in Sanders’ absence. Following that matchup, Reich refused to disclose details on his running back depth chart. Ultimately, though, the plans were made clear against the Texans as Hubbard more than tripled Sanders’ workload.
Monday, Reich was asked about how Sanders could potentially get out of his slump, which the running back has even acknowledged publicly.
“I think it happens a couple different ways,” Reich said. “One thing is feeding him the ball. You can get him some touches and then sometimes, it’s a question of, ‘Hey, even if it’s limited touches, I gotta make the most of what touches I get and what plays I’m in.’ We have a lot of confidence in Miles. Chuba is getting the bulk of the carries the way our run game is going. He’s a more physical, downhill runner, but Miles is a great player, so we want to continue to mix it up.
“Sometimes, I’ve just seen this happen before, where it feels like an eternity to Miles — like a two- or three- or four-game stretch will feel like an eternity to the player — but over the course of the season, it can turn. It’s not guaranteed to turn, but it can turn. So we’ll continue to rotate those guys through.”
TREMBLE OUTPLAYING HURST IN CAROLINA Similarly, Tremble supplanted Hurst in the Week 8 win against Houston, playing 36 snaps compared to the veteran tight end’s 22 plays. Tremble is the superior blocker at the position, so his versatility was taken advantage of under a new play-caller, offensive coordinator Thomas Brown.
Last week, Brown mentioned the importance of blocking in the Panthers’ offensive system, acknowledging the old adage, “no block, no rock,” when asked about how paramount the function is to playing time.
Hurst was targeted twice by Young against the Texans. On the first play of the critical game-winning drive, Young sent a ball Hurst’s way, and the tight end bobbled and dropped the pass.
Tremble took on the bulk of the duties from there. Hurst — who signed a three-year, $21.75 million deal in the offseason — finished the game without a catch, while Tremble caught the Panthers’ lone touchdown score and produced four yards on two catches.
“That’s more of a rotation, more credit to Tommy, he’s playing good football,” Reich said. “And we love Hayden. Hayden is playing good football. This is the thing as a coach: We love all of our players. It’s earned every week. Just because you’re named a starter at the beginning of the year doesn’t mean that you’re guaranteed to get all the reps and get all the touches as it goes. This is a meritocracy. This is the business that we live in, and for all of us, we’re accountable for it day by day, but I’m happy for the guys that we have.
Hayden’s a really good player, and Tommy’s playing well also.” REICH DISCUSSES NFL TRADE DEADLINE As the Panthers head into Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline (4 p.m.), it’s fair to wonder what the team will do with Hurst and Sanders, despite Reich’s public affirmation.
While Reich had a conversation with GM Scott Fitterer following last night’s win, the head coach is largely avoiding the trade talks based on his experience. “I had a brief conversation with Scott within the last 24 hours about some phone calls that he was taking,” Reich said.
“I actually plan on sitting down with him this afternoon sometime just to see if anything else has come up. Again, I just focused on Houston (last week). I’ve learned in these situations to trust the GM, he’s leading that process, he’ll do a great job.
“He’ll pull me in when needed, obviously we’ll have some conversations later today to see if anything’s come up in the last 24 hours that’s worth talking about. And sometimes it does, and sometimes things fizzle out. So we’ll see how it all plays out.”
