Derrick Henry vs. Nick Chubb; who really is the best running back in the NFL?

Is Cleveland Browns’ running back Nick Chubb better than Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry?

The Cleveland Browns have one of the best running backs in the league with Nick Chubb. The Tennessee Titans have one of the best backs in the league as well with Derrick Henry. To say either man is better would be to grade them on the slimmest possible margins. Both men are elite at their position.

The Titans have a 2,000-yard rusher, who over the last five seasons has put up some of the best figures in the league. He’s had over 6,000 yards in that span and missed most of 2021 due to injuries. It’s very likely he’d be closer to 8,000 yards over that five-year span had he not been hurt.

The Browns have a guy who could be a 2,000-yard rusher if his head coach 1) gave him the ball more and 2) didn’t split his carries with lesser backs. Chubb is racing all the way to an all-time NFL great, and doing so in an era that favors passing.

Both teams are incredibly lucky to have the running backs they have, but when the topic of who is better comes up, there is a reasonable debate. Henry, of all people, believes Chubb is the best running back. Chubb, if he were the kind of guy to have an opinion on this, would likely say the offensive line he runs behind is the best running back in the league, as that man doesn’t take credit for anything.

But who really is the best back going?

Derrick Henry vs. Nick Chubb

Both men are great runners but utterly different. Henry will run through a player and force them to bring him down. At 6’3 and 250lbs, there are some offensive linemen who are barely bigger than Henry, so daring a modern-day linebacker, who is probably 220 lbs at best, to tackle him can be seen as a death wish.

Chubb, on the other hand, is a more shifty back. Both men rack up broken tackles but for different reasons. Henry is the avalanche of a runner who dares you to step in front of him, while Chubb is more like the wind, darting too and froe, making you miss by just a moment. Chubb has this innate ability to shift his hips ever so slightly and take an angle that sees runners only get an arm around Chubb. It’s not that Chubb can’t break tackles, it’s that he’s often making subtle changes that players don’t expect.

Does that make either man better? No, not really.

What else? Well, what about catching passes? Is there a noticeable difference? Looking at guys like Saquon Barkley and Christian McCaffery, we know that running backs who can catch passes can add a whole new element to the game. Neither Chubb nor Henry is a big-time receiver. They can if needed but they’re the guys you give the rock to in a far more conventional manner.

Let’s look at blocking then. As pass blockers go, Chubb has better marks than Henry according to PFF. Over the last four years, where both men have been starters for their squads, Chubb excels at pass blocking, unlike Henry, who is only very average at the feat.

So while running styles don’t make a difference, and neither man is great at being a receiver, we are starting to see some distance growing.

Lastly, let’s look at reliability. Henry and Chubb have both had some injury issues in their career. Chubb has missed six games over the last three seasons, while Henry has missed nine. I’d say a wash there, but here’s where we get the game-breaker.

Henry started off 2022 very poorly, Chubb started off the year setting career highs. While you can say that Henry is used far more often and hence he is likely to start off slower, that right there is a sign of decline. It’s understandable, but it’s still a player declining.

Henry is still a Top 10 runner for sure, but right now, Chubb is the more consistent runner and the more reliable one as well. It won’t be that way forever, Chubb will susseed his status to someone else eventually but until then, it’s fair to say that Chubb edges out Henry, even if by only the slimmest of margins.