80 Prospects in 80 Days: Oklahoma State RB Chuba Hubbard

Each day leading up to the 2021 NFL Draft, we will take a look at prospects that should be on the Carolina Panthers' radar. We will look at roughly eleven prospects per round to give a better idea of potential draftees beyond just the first round.

Here's our schedule for the next 80 days:

1st Round: Feb. 8th - Feb. 21st

2nd Round: Feb. 22nd - Mar. 6th

3rd Round: Mar. 7th - Mar. 18th

4th Round: Mar. 19th - Mar. 28th

5th Round: Mar. 29th - Apr. 7th

6th Round: Apr. 8th - Apr. 17th

7th Round: Apr. 18th - Apr. 27th

Prospect No. 58: RB Chuba Hubbard

College: Oklahoma State

Height: 6'0" Weight: 207 lbs

Draft range: 5th round

Analysis: Hubbard's draft stock took quite a hit after only playing in seven games due to a nagging ankle injury. If he can get back to being the player he was in 2019 when he ran for 2,094 yards and 24 touchdowns, he's going to be an absolute steal in the 5th round. Hubbard also does a nice job of catching the ball out of the backfield and picks up blitzes in pass protection. McCaffrey needs some help with Mike Davis off to Atlanta, Hubbard could be the answer.

Analysis from NFL Draft Bible on Sports Illustrated:

Hubbard runs exclusively out of the shotgun in the Cowboys’ very spaced-out attack. Possessing exciting speed and burst, he makes use of large openings, exploding into holes and taking it the distance. When playing quickly, he gives second-level defenders no chance to hesitate while filling their gaps as he is gone in an instant. While he does not jump-cut explosively, Hubbard can change directions in the open field and find cutback lanes on lateral runs. Once in space, the Canadian loves using a stiff arm that is very effective on defensive backs. Hubbard struggles to find openings when they are not obvious and does not have the patience required to let his blocks develop, making it useless to run him behind lead blockers on concepts that take longer to develop. He is not physical and gets arm tackled consistently, which leaves yards on the table. In the receiving game, he is not asked to run routes and the times he does he struggles to gain separation underneath. When left open in the flat, he has shown that he hauls passes in reliably. In the NFL, Hubbard projects as a scheme-specific back for a team in need of speed and ability to get to the edge. His lack of third-down ability prevents him from being a starter as his pass blocking is not up to par even for the college game. If able to iron out ball-security issues that caused him to fumble eight times in his collegiate career, Hubbard could grasp a pure running role in an outside zone scheme, taking advantage of his speed and burst.

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