Browns: 5 best offensive players halfway through the season
By Chad Porto
The Cleveland Browns have a winning record through eight games for the first time in years, but who are the five most efficient players so far?
It’s a pretty simple title, so let’s not mince words. This is not the Browns “five best players”, or even their “five most important players”, it’s simply stating that these are the five most productive players through the first eight games, aka the best performing. This list would look completely different if Nick Chubb, Wyatt Teller, and Odell Beckham were healthy, and if Austin Hooper and Kareem Hunt were more explosive in the offense.
That said, they aren’t. Chubb, Teller, and Beckham have all missed significant time and in Beckham’s case, will continue to. Hooper missed some time but mostly he’s just not been that dynamic in the passing game yet, while Hunt has been given the load and failed to impress. He’s by no means a bad player, but the talk of the Browns having the best backfield is in question.
With that, let’s see the five players who did make the cut.
#5 – OL Chris Hubbard
He’s not the best offensive linemen and frankly won’t have his job when Wyatt Teller comes back but he was thrust into a new position while having to replace the team’s best blocker. Sure Jack Conklin deserves love too, and if there was a “#6”, he’d be right there. Conklin is supposed to be in the top five or six players performing well, Hubbard isn’t. So that’s why Hubbard gets the little extra nudge.
Hubbard’s play has been inspiring, especially after his very bad 2019 campaign that saw many calling for him to be cut, including yours truly. The fact that they didn’t, brought him back as a backup and he’s performed as well as he has is a sign that sometimes risks pay off. Ideally, it’d be great to see Hubbard keep playing in spots, and earn himself a nice extension in Cleveland, unfortunately, it’s probably likely he’ll be seen as a starter again after his play in 2020 and will leave for that opportunity after 2021 for that chance.
It’s also likely he’s a cut or traded if the salary cap is dropped significantly. Either way, enjoy him while you can, Browns fans.