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Browns: Ranking the 5 best running backs since 1999 not named Nick Chubb

By Chad Porto

Browns Nick Chubb (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
Browns Nick Chubb (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /
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TAMPA, FL – OCTOBER 13: Running back William Green #31 of the Cleveland Browns runs with the ball during the NFL game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on October 13, 2002 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers won 17-3. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FL – OCTOBER 13: Running back William Green #31 of the Cleveland Browns runs with the ball during the NFL game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on October 13, 2002 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers won 17-3. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

No. 4 William Green

It may not seem like it, but William Green actually had one of the better post-1999 careers in Browns’ history. In the years following the return, Green posted three seasons of 500+ yards rushing, with one of those seasons hitting 800 yards. That may not seem like a lot, considering Nick Chubb has topped 1,400 on his own, but keep this in mind, only three other running backs since 1999 have topped 500 yards on the Browns three times.

Yikes.

So Green’s run, in context, is impressive. Well, impressively sad but still. It’s impressive.

Green wasn’t in the best place when he started his career, and never lived up to his potential as the 2002 first-round pick. That said, Green did become the first running back of the new Browns era to top 800 yards, as well as having the most iconic run of the “new Browns”, with his now widely infamous “Run, William, run!” sprint that knocked off the Atlanta Falcons and securing Cleveland a playoff spot in 2002.

That was the first time the new Browns had gotten to the playoffs, and the only time that they did until 2020.

Green didn’t get a second contract, as off-field issues and poor play ruined his potential. He did finish with 2,109 yards rushing and nine touchdowns, however.

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