Browns: Nick Chubb far too low on CBS’ Top 100 NFL Players list

CBS posted their Top 100 players and completely disrespected Nick Chubb.

Just because the trend is to “devalue” running backs, doesn’t actually mean that you should. Not when it isn’t warranted. Nick Chubb was rightly placed on CBS’ Top 100 NFL Player’s list this week and came in at No. 63, the second-highest Browns player on the list. The only Browns player just above him was Myles Garrett at No. 9. While most in the NFL seem to think running backs are a dime a dozen, what we’ve seen seems to disprove that. Look at Joe Mixon with the Bengals.

Mixon for a long time was considered a “good” running back but he’s been anything but. Sure, he’s had flashes but he’s not in the same league as Chubb. Few running backs are. There are still some elite-level guys that deserve to be treated as such.

Chubb is an elite player and while No. 63 may seem high, for a player of his rare talents, it’s really not. Especially not when Ezekiel Elliot (No. 57), Alvin Kamara (No. 37), Christian McCaffery (No. 21), Dalvin Cook (No. 19), and Derrick Henry (No. 11) are ahead of him.

You can make a case for McCaffery, sure, he’s the most versatile player in the NFL. Yet, none of the names ahead of Chubb have ever done what he’s done.

Nick Chubb is on his way to the Hall of Fame at this rate.

Elliot averaged just 4.0 in yards per carry in 2020. The lowest of his career. He didn’t even crack 1,000 yards. Sure, Henry had 2,027 yards for 2020, but he also had nearly double the number of carries that Chubb had. Had Chubb had the same number of attempts, Chubb would’ve been projected to finish with 2,122 yards. So Chubb was far more effective than Henry in 2020.

Chubb is a definitive better running back than Cook, that’s not even a debate. As a runner, Chubb is better than McCaffery and Kamara, but if you factor in their versatility, sure. That’s a solid case to put them over Chubb as Chubb is a very predictable player. Yet, as a runner, no one’s better. No one. Period. If the Browns weren’t so gung ho with giving carries to Kareem Hunt, who’s nowhere near Chubb’s level, then Chubb would have the stats to smash the guys above him.

Chubb has one stat going for him that none of the guys above him does. Chubb has averaged five yards per carry in every season he’s ever played. Let’s say Chubb has 3,500 career carries, he’d project to be around 17,000 rushing yards (assuming he holds up health-wise). Let’s say he gets as many carries as Emmet Smith, and holds up until he’s 30 as an elite runner. That’s well over 20,000 rushing yards.

Now, those are projected numbers at the current rate of success. That current rate of success could go up or down over the years, so it’s no in any way a prediction. It’s merely a statement of what could be. Chubb could be sitting alone on top of Running Back Mountain at this rate. Yet, he’s only the sixth-best running back behind Elliott and Cook?

Stop the disrespect.