Browns: 5 best offensive players through 12 games

Nick Chubb

It’s hard to talk about offensive linemen for x-amount of words. It’s not har, however, to talk about Nick Chubb for any amount of words. Chubb is arguably a top-three running back, and as a pure runner, he has no equal. Sure his combine numbers don’t blow you out of the water (a barely 4.5 40-yard dash), but the thing that Chubb does better than anyone, is his ability to move laterally at the of scrimmage. Not just with huge jukes to the left or right, but his ability to subtly shift his hips just enough to “get skinny” and cut through a collapsing pocket as it fills with defenders.

Chubb’s shiftiness is his biggest strength, with his second biggest strength being, well, his strength. If Chubb was just shifty, he’d be really good. Yet, now you have a shifty running back, who’s barely 5’10, and now you have a hard to hit, small target. So you need to be nearly perfect when throwing a tackle at him. Now you have to deal with the fact that this tiny target, can run through weak arm tackles, and now what do you do? How do you tackle a running back that’s already hard to hit, that can evade you, and run through you? Simple answer, you really can’t.

There’s a reason why he’s averaging 6.0 yards per carry this year and has a YPC of 5.3 for his career. Chubb is one yard shy of 800 yards and missed four games. Imagine what his stats would be like if he hadn’t missed those four games. On top of that, he’s scored seven touchdowns. Chubb’s only issue of contention is he’s largely ineffective in the passing game. He’s not built to be a good dual-threat, that’s Kareem Hunt’s job.

Chubb’s job is to simply break the ankles, arms, and spirits of opposing defenses.