Canadian RB Chuba Hubbard optimistic better times lie ahead for NFL's Panthers

It was a breakout season, but not one Chuba Hubbard is prepared to hang his hat on.

The six-foot-one, 210-pound Sherwood Park, Alta, native recorded career bests in carries (250), rushing yards (1,195), rushing touchdowns (10) and receptions (43) in 2024 with the Carolina Panthers. And that was despite missing the final two regular-season games with a calf strain.

But even with the security of a $33.2-million US, four-year contract extension, the 25-year-old says he's nowhere near being a finished product.

"I was blessed to have many accomplishments, but I'm a perfectionist," Hubbard said. "I believe in the analogy just keep chopping until the tree falls down.

"I've looked at what I did well, what I need to work on and it's time to get back to work."

Hubbard registered four 100-yard games last season, one more than he had over his first three NFL seasons combined. And in what proved to be his final '24 game, Hubbard ran for 152 yards and two TDs — including the winning 21-yard run in overtime — in a 36-30 victory over the Arizona Cardinals to earn NFC offensive player of the week honours.

But Hubbard went on season-ending injured reserve the following week, leaving him just 159 yards short of surpassing Rueben Mayes as the top-rushing Canadian in an NFL regular season.

Mayes, of North Battleford, Sask., ran for a career-high 1,353 yards in 1986 as a rookie with the New Orleans Saints, becoming the first Canadian to crack the 1,000-yard NFL rushing plateau. Hubbard is just the second.

Mayes was pulling for Hubbard to surpass his mark, but Hubbard said it was never on his radar.

"It's not something I keep in the back of my mind or that I'm chasing," he said. "To be in those talks and conversations is definitely a blessing.