The Carolina Panthers’ snap counts from Sunday’s 59-37 loss to the Chicago Bears told a pretty clear story: some roles are already hardening, while a few others are still very much in flux.
Start with the backfield, where the Week 1 setup did not match the preseason tease. Dave Canales had talked up a running back by committee approach, but Chuba Hubbard ended up handling far more work than Jonathon Brooks. Hubbard more than tripled Brooks’ snap total, and while Brooks did make the most of the chances he got, those chances were few and far between.
That workload split matters because Brooks’ snap count was startlingly low. He was on the field for just 13 snaps, even though he had been getting all the RB1 reps during the preseason. Health could have played a part, but Hubbard wasn’t exactly arriving at full strength, either.
At tight end, Darren Waller’s usage stood out in a different way. He had no preseason and limited practice time before the regular season, but that didn’t stop him from logging meaningful work right away.
He out-snapped every other Panthers tight end except Tommy Tremble, who finished with 14 more snaps than Waller. That makes Waller firmly TE2 and suggests the late signing, age, and previous retirement are not slowing him down.
On defense, the edge rotation shifted because Pat Jones was out. Princely Umanmielen got the start, but Trevis Gipson ended up playing more snaps.
Umanmielen didn’t do enough to hold onto the bigger role, struggling to contain Caleb Williams on key scrambles and failing to set the edge on major run plays. If Jones misses another game, Gipson looks like the likelier starter next week.
And then there was Jimmy Horn Jr., whose offensive role was much smaller than what Panthers fans have seen before. Last year, he got plenty of gadget-play chances, and that carried into the 2026 preseason.
Against Chicago, though, he barely factored on offense, finishing with just 14 snaps there. He did get 12 snaps on special teams, which was a much bigger share of his work.
That could change later, but for now he looks like mostly a special teamer.
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Dave Canales Sent Bryce Young Message Panthers Fans Can't Ignore
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