Cleveland Browns vs. Steelers: 3 X-Factors in Week 6

1. Can Chris Hubbard hold the OL together?

The Browns made the right move to renegotiate a deal for Chris Hubbard to keep him in Cleveland this year and hopefully a while longer. Hubbard is an extremely smart player who will certainly be a coach in the NFL someday (write this down: he will be an offensive line coach for certain, and very possibly a head coach in the NFL or in college).

He’s extremely smart and plays all five offensive line positions. He’s the glue to hold the offensive line together in case of injuries, which seems to be the case for the Browns with “Pancake Man” Wyatt Teller out for a few weeks with a calf strain. Earlier, Hubbard was fine stepping in when Jack Conklin and Jedrick Wills were banged up a bit.

Teller has been playing literally at an All-Pro level, judging from his grades from Pro Football Focus, and it is impossible to truly replace him. However, Chris Hubbard has also been outstanding this season. He has been greatly improved compared to the past two seasons. There are a few reasons for this.

One is coach Bill Callahan, who has been absolutely tremendous for the Browns. Cleveland’s offensive line has been near the top of the league all season long. Four veterans rank in the top 10 at their position according to PFF. Jedrick Wills is 56th out of 72 ranked tackles, and Hubbard is 21st.

A second reason is that Hubbard is actually better suited to play guard. When he came into the league with the Steelers, he was primarily a backup guard but learned to play all five offensive line positions plus blocking tight end. He became a starting right tackle in 2017 because right tackle Marcus Gilbert got injured, not because that was his best position.

Guard is probably where he should have been all along. He doesn’t have the size or athleticism to be a right tackle at 6-4 and 295 lbs. He does it with head smarts, mojo, smoke, and mirrors. He fits right in with the rest of the offensive line and has the speed to pull for the wide zone-blocking scheme that the Browns want to use. In 2018 he did not miss a single snap but did not play at a high level either, and was banged up in 2019 and eventually missed some time. But he may be the ideal player to have on the team as a backup as well as a mentor for younger players.

Elsewhere it has been reported that Hubbard has never played guard in the NFL. That’s not correct. He played mostly guard as a backup for the Steelers prior to 2017, which was his fifth year in the NFL. Hubbard also played center a few times, notably against the Browns in the last game of the 2017 season, because they had decided to rest Maurkice Pouncey.

Hubbard is the X-Factor because another NFL team might fall apart if they were to lose a player who is playing as well as Wyatt Teller.

Hubbard is being counted on to hold things together against probably the toughest defensive front four in the NFL. Can he and the rest of the offensive line survive it?