There aren't many others in the NFL who have provided the kind of consistent, big-play threat Nick Chubb has over the past three years.
Since 2018, when he came to Cleveland as a second-round pick out of Georgia, Chubb has registered 101 runs of 10 yards or more (2nd in NFL), 34 runs of 20 yards or more (1st in NFL) and seven runs of 50 yards or more (2nd in NFL). Chubb, of course, had a number of those big plays during a 2020 season in which he missed four games because of a knee injury but still put up numbers as if he'd been around for the entire year.
Chubb rushed for 1,067 yards and 12 touchdowns, totals that ranked seventh and fourth, respectively, in the league. He became the first player since Mercury Morris in 1972 and just the second player since 1932 to rush for at least 1,000 yards and 12 scores on fewer than 190 carries.
Entering his fourth season with the Browns, Chubb ranks sixth in franchise history with 3,557 yards and seventh with 28 touchdowns.
"I think Nick is arguably the best runner in football," C JC Tretter said, "with what he is able to do with the ball in his hands, the physicality and the speed he can run with."
But which play was Chubb's best in 2020? Andrew Gribble and Nathan Zegura made their picks after going through PLENTY of options.
Gribble: Week 10 vs. Texans - 59-yard game-sealing run
Has a play ever epitomized the player and character of Chubb more than this? First, it was simply a fantastic run that only a few humans are capable of making. Faced with a third-and-3 at the Browns' 40-yard line with 1:07 to play, Chubb took a pitch from Baker Mayfield, shook a defender and maintained complete control as he sprinted down the sidelines. For many running backs, this would have gone for a loss or simply would have been well short of a first down. For others, it would have gone for a first down but little more. For Chubb, it would have been a 60-yard touchdown … but he smartly darted out of bounds at the 1-yard line to ensure the Browns could end the game with a kneel down. That's the kind of selfless decision that separates Chubb from the rest and what separates this big run from the rest in another big season from the Browns star running back.
Zegura: Week 17 vs. Steelers - 47-yard TD run
The greatness of Chubb is hard to appropriately describe. He is the best combination of speed, power, vision, balance and acceleration in the NFL today and has the potential to be one of the all time greats. After all, not since former Brown and unquestioned GOAT Jim Brown in 1959 has a player rushed for more than 1,000 yards and 12 touchdowns in a season with 12 or fewer games played. That was the truth for 60 years until Nick Chubb did it this season. Obviously, to achieve something so rare, Chubb's season had to be full of memorable runs and breathtaking plays, which it was. However, no run stood out more to me than his 47-yard touchdown run against the Steelers in Week 17, when the Browns knew it was win or go home. The stakes could not have been higher, and the Browns needed to strike first to ease the pressure and start the march to the playoffs. So, on the team's second possession of a scoreless game, Kevin Stefanski called Chubb's number on first-and-10 from the Steelers 47-yard line. The Browns had three receivers to the left and Chubb was the lone back. They ran a simple stretch to the right and, after TE Austin Hooper pushed the blitzing Steelers DB up the field, Chubb did the rest. He accelerated through the hole and made a slight cut back to the inside, outracing the trailing defensive linemen and making the free tackler miss in the hole. From there, he accelerated toward the sideline and down the field, where he had to make one more man miss. Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick had the angle on Chubb, who cut back into him and dropped his would-be tackler to the ground like a bag of chips. It is, after all, a common sight to see defenders lying on the ground after bouncing off Chubb on his big runs. Once he dispatched of Fitzpatrick, he would race untouched into the end zone thanks to an excellent downfield block from rookie WR Donovan Peoples-Jones. The Browns would be up 7-0 and on their way to the playoffs. You could feel the jubilation at FirstEnergy Stadium as Chubb once again put the city on his back and took them one step closer to realizing their playoff dreams. Chubb would make his presence felt again next week in the playoffs with an unreal, 40-yard catch-and-run touchdown on a screen pass that will be forever burned into the minds of Browns fans. Chubb is a treasure, and the more you watch him, the more you appreciate his incredible mix of rare gifts.
