A year ago, Cleveland Browns fans were preparing to watch their favorite running back Nick Chubb run up the team’s all-time running back leaderboard. Things looked good early in the season and in the Week 2 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers Chubb was already running laps early in the battle. However, he took a terrible hit later in the game and was seriously injured. That knee injury ended his season.
Now he will look again to climb that ladder and cement his spot in Browns history.
BEREA, OHIO – JUNE 07: Nick Chubb #24 of the Cleveland Browns runs a drill during the Cleveland Browns mandatory veteran minicamp at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus on June 7, 2023 in Berea, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
From a yardage perspective, he’s already at No. 4. only behind Mike Pruitt, Leroy Kelly, and Jim Brown. Pruitt is sitting at 6,540 yards while Chubb is at 6,511 yards. He’s only 30 yards from securing the No. 3 spot.
This season
Chubb now enters season No. 7 with the Browns and it could end up being the season that separates him from all the rest, except for Jim Brown. If he can stay healthy, he should easily move past Mike Pruitt and then will have an excellent opportunity to jump ahead of Leroy Kelly who sits at No. 2 with 7,274 yards. If you’re doing the math, that’s only 764 yards to get to No. 2.
Again, one of the most staggering statistics in this has to be the sheer speed with which Chubb’s been climbing to the top. At the current moment, he has carried the ball 1,238 times.
Pruitt had 1,593 carries and Kelly had 1,727 carries, so when you consider these numbers it’s really impressive how efficient Chubb has been. If you’re counting, that’s a whopping 355 fewer carries compared to Pruitt and 489 fewer carries than Kelly. It’s more than likely that by the time Chubb goes ahead of Kelly in terms of yards gained, it’ll be by 250-300 fewer carries.
Can Nick Chubb reach Jim Brown’s numbers?
When you look at Jim Brown’s numbers, (12,312 yards total) they’re so much better than most that it’s almost not worth considering if someone could catch him. However, we have now entered that window in Chubb’s career and have to consider it a possibility though it’s a small chance at this juncture.
PITTSBURGH, PA – JANUARY 08: Nick Chubb #24 of the Cleveland Browns in action against the Pittsburgh Steelers on January 8, 2022 at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
Let’s assume that Chubb overtakes Kelly’s number after this season and puts him somewhere in the 7,600 range in yards gained. That’s still 4,700 yards needed and probably four more seasons as a Cleveland Brown
Despite Chubb’s unbelievable rise to the top, will the Browns give him his next deserved contract or would they be willing to part with an aging back? With the recent knee injury, a lot will be riding on his performances this next season.
Chubb would be around 32 or 33 years old by the time he caught the mark so that might be more difficult to reach because of that age and his durability as a back. If you consider that Jim Brown was 29 years old when he retired from the game then one can see what a challenge it could be for Chubb.
First, though, we will all applaud Chubb’s return this season as training camp gets started. After that, we will watch again in amazement as Chubb climbs that leaderboard.
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