Heading into the 2024 season, it looked like the Carolina Panthers were never going to need to worry about the running back position again. At the top of their rotation they had Chuba Hubbard, who’s in his prime and one of the game’s most-underrated rushers. Next up they had the number one-ranked running back in the draft in Jonathon Brooks out of Texas. To round it out they had a former Pro Bowler as their third-down back in Miles Sanders.
Fast forward one year and the Panthers have taken a hard lesson in just about how high the injury rate is at this position. By the end of the season all three of them were on the injured reserve list – and Brooks’ ACL tear is expected to keep him on the sidelines for the entire 2025 campaign.
That means even though the Panthers have signed a superb upgrade over Sanders in former Dallas Cowboys running back Rico Dowdle, adding another running back to replace Brooks should probably be on their list going into the draft.
With that in mind, there are two new names to consider. According to Aaron Wilson, the Panthers have scheduled a top-30 meeting with Oklahoma State’s Ollie Gordon.
Gordon (6-foot-1, 226 pounds) was an All-American in 2023 as he led the Big 12 with 1,732 rushing yards and 21 rushing touchdowns. He won Offensive Player of the Year for his efforts. Gordon saw nearly 100 fewer carries last season, but still managed to post nearly 900 yards and 13 touchdowns.
The Panthers have also scheduled a top-30 meeting with Auburn’s Jarquez Hunter, according to a report by Joe Person at The Athletic.
Hunter (5-foot-10, 202 pounds) spent all four years of his college career at Auburn, totaling 3,371 yards on 539 carries (6.3 per attempt) and 25 touchdowns. He added another 68 catches, 558 yards and four scores as a receiver.
As to where they might get drafted, at the moment Gordon is projected to be a Day 2 pick, while Hunter is expected to come off the board on Day 3.
Given the high number of other roster needs this team has, that might give the edge to Hunter, as spending another Day 2 pick on a running back after what happened last year to Brooks would be difficult to swallow.