3 Browns with the most to lose ahead of training camp

2. Jerome Ford, Running Back

When the Browns lost Nick Chubb in Week 2 to a knee injury, Jerome Ford stepped into the starting role. Ford put up decent numbers, finishing with 813 yards on the ground and 319 as a receiver. Along with his yardage totals, Ford had nine touchdowns.

Looking deeper at the numbers paints a different picture, however. Ford was often a “feast or famine” player who benefited from eight breakaway runs for 266 yards. That’s a shocking 32.7 percent of his production on eight runs. That left him with 547 yards on the other 196 carries, an average of just 2.8 yards per attempt.

That average was more in line with what we saw from Ford. Down the stretch, the run game became a major problem. Ford spent more time than most backs in the backfield and was stuffed for a loss 56 times, losing 91 yards in the process. These struggles highlight why the front office decided to sign free agents D’Onta Foreman and Nyheim Hines in the offseason. 

Ford will still be given every opportunity to keep the No. 1 spot until Nick Chubb returns but it’s hard to see him being a superior option to Foreman. Hines is going to be more of a third-down back but will likely be kept ahead of Ford if there’s a numbers crunch when No. 24 is back.

Ford might have exceeded expectations for a typical fifth-round pick but he will have to fight to prove he deserves his spot this year. And if he loses out to Foreman and Hines, the consequences could be heavy.