It’s not often a team can replace its injured starting running back with one who recently won the NFL rushing title. The Browns, though, are deep at the position.
Cleveland ranks first in the NFL in rushing, with Nick Chubb’s 335 yards third in the NFL and Kareem Hunt’s 275 ranked 10th.
Chubb will miss at least three weeks with a sprained MCL, allowing Hunt to become the lead running back for the first time since Kansas City released him during the 2018 season.
“I’m a man on a mission,’' Hunt told Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com. “I didn’t get to play a full season last year or the year before, so I want to be able to finish out a full season and just remind everybody that I believe I can play with the best of the best and I’m up there with those guys. So, I’ve been working hard all offseason and just getting my mind right too — especially playing in my hometown, and what it will do for the community. You know, I love Cleveland.’'
Hunt, 25, led the league in rushing in 2017 as a rookie, going for 1,327 yards. He had 824 yards in 11 games with the Chiefs in 2018 before the team cut him for his off-field transgressions.
Now, he’s back in his hometown with a chance to make good.
“I’m ready to take the journey,” Hunt said.