Browns rookie running back Nick Chubb has been sensational thus far in his NFL career, averaging a whopping 10.8 yards per carry. Unfortunately, Chubb has only been phenomenal a few times per game.
Six games into the season, Chubb has been healthy and active for all six games. And he has never carried the ball more than three times in any game. Chubb, who had three carries for 25 yards on Sunday, now has 16 carries for 173 yards this season. He’s the top running back in the NFL in yards per carry, but his average of 2.7 carries per game ranks 98th in the NFL.
So why doesn’t Chubb get the ball more? After Chubb gained 105 yards on three carries two weeks ago, Browns coach Hue Jackson promised Chubb would see more action. That hasn’t happened; Chubb has three carries in each of the two games since then.
Still, Jackson is continuing to say he’ll get Chubb more involved. After Sunday’s loss to the Chargers, Jackson said it again.
“We need to get more,’' Jackson said. “There’s nothing else to say. We need to get him more chances, but sometimes the game changes, you get behind and you need Duke Johnson out there because that’s what he does well - catch the ball and run it. That’s what you were seeing yesterday. As these games get a little closer, they do not get too far away and we can get up whatever that is, we do need to give Nick Chubb more carries.”
But the reality is, there were plenty of opportunities to get Chubb the ball. On the Browns’ first possession, it was Carlos Hyde, not Chubb, who got the Browns’ lone handoff. On the Browns’ second possession, Hyde got three carries and Chubb got none. On the Browns’ third possession, Hyde got two carries and Chubb got none. On the Browns’ fourth possession, Hyde got two carries and Chubb got none. On the Browns’ fifth possession, Hyde got one carry and Chubb got none.
It wasn’t until the Browns’ sixth possession that they finally gave Chubb the ball, twice. He gained four yards on his first carry and 19 yards on his second carry. And then Chubb got the ball one more time the rest of the game. Jackson can claim he would have given Chubb the ball more if the Browns hadn’t fallen behind early, but the reality is Jackson didn’t give Chubb the ball when the game was close, either.
Maybe some day Chubb will show what he can do when he gets more than three carries a game. But through six weeks, he hasn’t had that opportunity yet.