Browns RB room hit with massive disrespect in recent projection

Ever since the Cleveland Browns drafted Nick Chubb, they’ve been one of the top running teams in the NFL. Even with Chubb missing all but six quarters in 2024, Cleveland was 12th in the NFL with 2,017 yards. Their efficiency left something to be desired, however, since they were 26th with an average of 3.9 yards per attempt.

That's why they made some changes in the offseason. Cleveland signed D’Onta Foreman and Nyheim Hines in free agency, giving them options outside Jerome Ford and Pierre Strong. They’re also going to get Chubb back at some point.

This should lead to higher expectations but that’s not the case with ESPN’s Mike Clay. He recently released a piece that included stat projections for every running back room in the NFL, and his take on the Browns left a lot to be desired.

Clay doesn’t have any running backs projected to hit 1,000 yards with Chubb coming in first at 891. The total rushing yards in his projection is 1,742 from the backs. That’s just 57 more yards than the 1,685 the running backs put up last year.

Perhaps that’s the general consensus outside of Cleveland but it feels unrealistic. Clay has Chubb on the field long enough to flirt with 1,000 yards plus they added Foreman and Hines. That feels like a vast improvement on their roster from 2023, yet he has them just one Jerome Ford breakaway run better.

Cleveland is used to the disrespect by now but the running game should be better than this, especially if Chubb is there for the majority of the season.

More Browns coverage