CHARLOTTE — Waiting isn't easy. It's not something anyone enjoys. But if you're going to do it, you better learn something from it.
For Chuba Hubbard, it was being drafted onto a team with an established star in Christian McCaffrey, and when he left, having another free agent back join the mix. But now, now that the moment is his, he's making the most of it.
The Panthers running back just missed a third straight 100-yard game last week (97 is still a lot), but he's still been one of the most productive backs in the league this season. In the past, he relied on his natural speed to make plays, but as he's waited for his turn and learned, he's also developed new skills that are helping him flourish.
Panthers head coach Dave Canales praised Hubbard's "discipline" as a runner, saying he's figured out how to hit holes and stay in them, rather than just pounding straight into them whether they're open or not or bailing too soon and trying to cut back outside to make a hero play. It's not instinctive. It has to be learned.
"Some guys are naturally that way," Canales said. "Some guys naturally are looking for the home run, and based on their lifetime experience, a lot of these guys, we're talking about thousands of carries dating back to when they were 10 years old, some of them even younger. And so they found ways to find success to find holes in the defense, and sometimes it was cutting way back against the grain. And unfortunately, in this league, that doesn't work a lot because everybody's fast and everybody's big.
"So while you become a professional running back, you learn the value of just that patience of knowing where to hit it. What's the front? How are the linebackers playing it? Where's my leverage at? And then, making sure that you can set runs up as the game goes on. And that certainly is a skill that's developed over time, and that's something that Chuba has shown a knack for."
He always had explosive speed, which he showed on that 38-yard touchdown run last week. And his work ethic is well-documented.
But to Canales' point, he's learned how to be a complete back during the time he spent waiting for his chance, and working himself into this kind of back.
"He's not afraid of the dirty 2- and 3-yard run, where you just kind of have to cram it up in there," Canales said. "And then later on in the game, they start popping into 8s and 12s, and here comes a 25. Just the discipline and his willingness to really commit to the system."
Veteran Jordan Matthews, who made his transition from receiver to tight end in San Francisco, where he had to learn the intricacies of Kyle Shanahan's run game, said seeing what McCaffrey and Jordan Mason do there and what Hubbard's doing here, made him appreciate how far his teammate has come.
"I don't want to compare Chuba to anybody because I do think he has a unique way of always being productive when the ball is in his hands," Matthews said. "But I know for a fact being around the 49ers run offense, the way they view the running game, it was very hard to get on the field as a running back there. There are a lot of boxes you have to check. When I got here, I was like, wow, this guy could have also played there. Like the production that you see C-Mac have that y'all witnessed here and the production that Mason is having there. It was a certain running style and you had to have a different mindset. And I got here, and I was like, OK, that was a high-level caliber of football. He fits that, like he is the type of back that could go anywhere in the NFL and be a one, and I can't think of a better compliment that you could give somebody."
And when you look at what Hubbard has done lately, that tracks.
Only Baltimore's Derrick Henry has more rushing yards over the last three games, a testament to Hubbard's productivity.
NFL's leading rushers (Weeks 3-5)
| Rank, running back | Rushing yards | Yards per carry | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Derrick Henry, Balt | 442 | 6.91 | 4 |
| 2. CHUBA HUBBARD, CAR | 315 | 6.06 | 2 |
| 3. Jordan Mason, SF | 289 | 5.07 | 1 |
| 4. Kyren Williams, LAR | 285 | 4.38 | 4 |
| 5. Saquon Barkley, PHI | 231 | 8.56 | 2 |
But to Canales' and Matthews' points, it takes more than just talent or just speed or just work. Other people are aware of what the Panthers want to do, and they've been doing it anyway.
"He's a pure runner, man," Matthews said. "His feel for the blocks being set up, trusting his track and then always moving forward. Then once he gets in between the tackles, it's like one of those things that just watching the way he runs the ball, he's going to be productive."
Being able to make that step from someone who was known for taking the ugly runs (and sometimes only those) to making the big pretty ones took time.
When asked about the praise of his patience in the backfield now, Hubbard laughed and said every back would love to cut back and "hit home runs all the time," but he's come to realize it takes more than that.
"I think being a running back is almost like an art," he said. "Obviously, I feel like it gets overshadowed for being an easy position; anyone can do it. But to really know and understand certain runs — gap scheme, zone, power, all these different things — it takes patience, it takes sometimes hitting it fast. You've really got to know what you're doing.
"So, I pride myself in just being able to run every single run. And however that looks, whether it's hitting it hard, being a little more patient, pressing it a little more, or getting all the way around."
When he's asked how developed that artistic style, he pointed back to the thing he's been known for for years — the work ethic. But in the same way that not every house painter can also produce a masterpiece, Hubbard had to have something to along with his now-famous willingness to grind.
"Years and years of work," he said with a shrug. "I mean, just staying diligent. Obviously, you're going to make mistakes. I think that's the best teacher out of everything. I've made more mistakes than I can count throughout these last few years.
"But, I pride myself on learning from them and just getting better, and I'm still going through that process now."
While he's learning, he's helping to keep an offense in transition afloat, and making a name for himself in the process.
Quarterback Andy Dalton, who has seen plenty of talented backs in his 14 seasons, knows that he's playing with one now that he can trust.
"Chuba is unique because he's a guy that everything is really important to him," Dalton said. "His game, how he goes about the recovery aspect, getting his body right, to studying film and making sure he knows everything from not only the run game but the passing game to protections and everything.
"I mean, I feel like he's a special player and a guy that you can look at and be like, that's an example of how we want to do things. And I think that has allowed him to have the type of year that he's having so far, and we need to keep going with him because he's doing a lot of really good things."
