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Factoid

Nick Chubb

Second-rounder one of last 25 years' best

The Browns signed Kareem Hunt yesterday, which might cause some nervousness for those with stock in Nick Chubb. Hunt's a talented guy who led the league in rushing in 2017, which gives the team a viable alternative -- post-suspension, of course -- should Chubb struggle or get hurt.

But I'm not terribly concerned about Chubb's future. mostly because I think he's really good. We had some doubts coming out of college, but he answered them very quickly. Despite being barely used the first quarter-plus of his rookie season, he went on to rush for 996 yards.

Among second-rounders to have made any impact at all over the last 25 years -- say, the 26 who rushed for at least 400 yards as rookies -- Chubb's 5.2 yards per carry was better than all but three of those players. Two went on to have excellent NFL careers. The third, like Chubb, comes off an excellent rookie season.

In the table below, 2018 rookies are in bold.

2ND-ROUND RUNNING BACKS, 1994-PRESENT (400 YARDS)
YearPickPlayerAttYdsAvgTD
200660Maurice Jones-Drew, Jac.1669415.716
200251Clinton Portis, Den.27315085.517
201843Kerryon Johnson, Det.1186415.44
201835Nick Chubb, Clev.1929965.210
201455Jeremy Hill, Cin.22211245.19
199743Corey Dillon, Cin.23311294.810
201358Montee Ball, Den.1205594.74
201645Derrick Henry, Tenn.1104904.55
200138Anthony Thomas, Chi.27811834.37
200855Ray Rice, Balt.1074544.20
201554Ameer Abdullah, Det.1435974.23
200443Julius Jones, Dall.1978194.27
201361Eddie Lacy, G.B.28411784.111
200953LeSean McCoy, Phil.1556374.14
201337Giovani Bernard, Cin.1706954.18
201536T.J. Yeldon, Jac.1827404.13
200844Matt Forte, Chi.31612383.912
199444Mario Bates, N.O.1515793.86
199736Tiki Barber, NYG1365113.84
201454Bishop Sankey, Tenn.1525693.72
199434Errict Rhett, T.B.28410113.67
201348LeVeon Bell, Pitt.2448603.58
201162Daniel Thomas, Mia.1655813.51
201748Joe Mixon, Cin.1786263.54
200158Travis Henry, Buff.2137293.44
199939James Johnson, Mia.1645583.44

Yards per carry isn't everything, although a lot of the guys at the bottom of this list washed out fairly quickly. LeVeon Bell, Travis Henry and it seems Joe Mixon turned out to be quality pros, but not so much Bishop Sankey and a trio of Florida backs.

Anyway. Cleveland was always going to bring in another running back; that's what teams do these days, and it makes sense the way these guys get hurt. But I'm comfortable with Chubb, both in 2019 and beyond. Good young player.

--Andy Richardson

Fantasy Index