Written By: Michael Esposito
With the 35th pick in the NFL Draft, the Cleveland Browns selected running back Nick Chubb from the University of Georgia. Adding a versatile weapon to the Browns number 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield’s arsenal. For Chubb, he was initially thought to get picked in the later part of the first round, but he ended up sliding into the 2nd round.
Joining Chubb in the Cleveland backfield will be newly acquired RB Carlos Hyde from Ohio State and returning Browns RB Duke Johnson who was drafted from the University of Miami in 2015.
During his college career at the University of Georgia, Chubb was a 4-year starter for the team. In his freshman year, he ran for 1547 yards with 14 TDs on a 7.1 average per carry. His sophomore season he injured his knee halfway through the season but was still able to rush for 7 TDs and 747 yards on 92 carries. Returning from injury in his junior season Chubb would finish with 1130 yards with another 8 TDs. This past season he shared the backfield with 1st round pick Sony Michel and still managed to run for 1345 yards with 15 touchdowns.
Chubb finished his career at UGA with 4769 yards second to only Herschel Walker in UGA history and SEC history. Overall a pretty good college career for Chubb.
With the 2018 draft class, the Browns picked up a third down back and a red zone back. Carlos Hyde is still a good runner but is aging and Duke Johnson is more of the pass catcher out of the backfield. For now, Chubb will be used as a short yardage back and for goal line situations because of his big size and the fact that he is a true North and South Runner.
I see him playing a small part in the Browns offense right off the bat but eventually moving his way up the depth charts to possibly be the every down back. He has the talent now just needs the opportunity to shine.
