Browns Nick Chubb slots in as CBS Sports' No. 3 RB in Top 100 Rankings

Running Nick Chubb has long been a steadying presence for the Cleveland Browns. From the outset of his career with the Orange and Brown, beginning in the 2018 campaign, he's proven to be a special runner of the football.

Through his five seasons in the league thus far, he's had 6,341 rushing yards on 1,210 carries, which has been an average of 5.2 yards per attempt. On a career per game basis, he's posted an average of 84.5 rushing yards in 75 career regular season games played. In that span, he's tallied 48 career rushing touchdowns for Cleveland.

Chubb has been such a model of consistency for the Browns, and even with him being the workhorse he is for Cleveland, he's continually churned out production over the years. His combination of speed, power, acceleration, and vision has made him so difficult for opponents to get on the ground.

Simply put, watching him tote the rock has been such a pleasure for so long, and he's not shown signs of slowing down. Granted, there are admittedly some questions about Cleveland's running back depth behind Chubb as it pertains to next season, though.

Anyways, while it's not quite training camp time yet for the Brownies, given where we're at in the calendar in late June, it's fun to check out offseason articles from various media outlets, including team and player rankings.

With that in mind, in his latest Top 100 Player Rankings, prior to next season seemingly, CBS Sports' Pete Prisco had Chubb slotted at No. 33 in the league and the third-best running back. The San Francisco 49ers' Christian McCaffrey and the Tennessee Titans' Derrick Henry were ranked as the NFL's top two running backs, and checked in at No. 27 and No. 30 overall in Prisco's rankings, respectively.

Here was the analysis for Prisco's ranking of Chubb:

"Chubb had his best season in 2022, rushing for a career-high 1,525 yards while scoring 13 touchdowns. He continues to be the focal point of the Cleveland offense."

- Prisco

Given how McCaffrey and Henry are arguably as gifted and versatile as pure runners of the ball, and also are much more capable of receivers in the pass game, it wasn't surprising that they were slotted ahead of Chubb in Prisco's rankings.

McCaffrey has incredible receiver and route-running skills, and while Henry is not at that level, he's simply more viable than Chubb is at this stage in the passing game. That's not to say Chubb can't improve in time, though, and if Deshaun Watson can rebound from here, that should only help Chubb's potential development there.

All things considered, it's evident that even with him set to enter Year 6 of his career with the Browns, and with the workload he's had, Chubb is still among the best ball carriers in the NFL. His strength and balance as a runner have made him productive in both short yardage and in the red zone, and in the same light, his vision, acceleration and breakaway speed on the perimeter have made him so dangerous in the open field.

For a 227-pound back, Chubb is as elusive as he is powerful, and that's led to him being as productive as they come in the league since he's been around when factoring in touches as a runner. Last season he ranked third in broken tackles forced on rushes, per Pro Football Reference, and was second in rushing first downs generated. He's always been a fixture among the league's best in relevant rushing statistics.

Now, having Joel Bitonio and the Browns offensive line and better yet, offensive line coach Bill Callahan in recent seasons, has not hurt Chubb's cause, of course. Still, Chubb, who turns 28 in December, has long been a terrific player, and Prisco's latest rankings signify that.

It'll be a blast to watch the four-time Pro Bowler in Chubb once again in 2023. And as Tony Grossi of ESPN Cleveland suggested recently (independent of my typical thoughts on him), Chubb and the Browns should work on an extension for him in the near future, as Chubb's deal is up in 2024. Time will tell on that front.

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