Through three weeks, four running backs have finished inside the top 12 every week: Jahmyr Gibbs, Kenneth Walker III, Derrick Henry and Chuba Hubbard. Three of them are in the FantasyPros consensus top five this week. Hubbard is RB13, one spot behind the line and two behind Chase Brown, who has gone RB14, RB19 and RB33.
The obvious objection is touchdowns, and it is fair as far as it goes. Hubbard scored twice in Week 1 and once in Week 2, on 10 and 12 carries. Week 3 answers it: no touchdown, and he still finished RB12, on 19 carries for 82 yards and four catches for 28, playing 84% of the snaps.
That snap share is the real story. AJ Dillon, the next Carolina back, has played 10%, 6% and 15% of the snaps. Hubbard is not in a committee. He is the backfield.
The matchup is the right kind as well. Detroit at Carolina has a 51.5-point total, tied for the highest of the week, with Carolina a 3.5-point home underdog. That should be a game close enough for Carolina to keep handing off, and with Jalen Coker and Xavier Legette both missing Wednesday's practice, there are fewer other places for the ball to go.
He is one of our 12 Must Start running backs, and the model we now seed the sheet from has him tenth. A back who has done it three weeks running is not the risky pick. Ranking him 13th is.