Cleveland Browns’ Mayfield, Chubb, Callaway Uptrending
Nick Chubb, Running Back
Another obviously improving player is Nick Chubb. Amazingly, offensive gurus Hue Jackson and Todd Haley saw fit to limit Chubb to three touches per game and no more. Period.
Carlos Hyde, a dependable back, but one who is not as good as either Nick Chubb or Duke Johnson, was going to be the bell cow and tote the rock for twenty or so times per game while Chubb was presumably taking notes on the bench. Despite that, Chubb was still able to gain 105 yards in three carries in Week 4, and thus became the NFL Rookie of the Week. But was not enough to change the three touch per game formula.
A similar chart for Chubb shows how he is trending as well.
In desperation, John Dorsey finally threw Hyde overboard in order to force Jackson and Haley to use Chubb, and he responded to the challenge with a very acceptable 145 yards in two weeks. Then when Jackson and Haley were both fired, he took off with 261 yards the past two weeks.
After Week 10, he was ranked as the number 1 running back in the NFL by Pro Football Focus (subscription required) . Not the number one rookie running back, but the number 1 running back overall in the NFL. At some point, Chubb is going to level off, but young man is hungry and coach Kitchens seems to have the inclination to feed him.
Related Story. Browns Nick Chubb Ready to Feast vs Cincinnati. light
The stupidity of not playing Chubb is hard to explain. It’s not that Hyde is a bad running back (he’s not, so let’s not blame the player for the coaches’ decision), but to deliberately deny carries to a kid who is playing at an All-Pro level is hard to fathom. Then too, rookie running backs are not like rookie quarterbacks. They have a much steeper learning curve than a quarterback, and the good ones are often able to contribute immediately. This was not the case in the Jackson era.
The Browns suddenly look like a Top-5 running team especially when Duke Johnson is also getting snaps.