Nick Chubb has quickly established himself as one of the NFL’s top running backs. Chubb has rushed for 2,490 yards in his first two seasons and scored 16 TDs, but even with that impressive production, there is room for improvement.
Short yardage situations in the opponent’s red zone.
Chubb has had some struggles in short-yardage and goal-line runs in his two seasons in the NFL. Given his size, power and balance, it seems odd that a gifted runner like Chubb wouldn’t thrive in these situations, but that’s been the case — especially in 2019.
From Mike Tanier at Bleacher Report,
Nick Chubb rushed 15 times inside the 5-yard line for the Browns last season. He lost a total of 14 yards on those carries while scoring just two touchdowns.
But but but! I can hear you, fair reader. The line was awful at run blocking. Freddie Kitchens’ playcalling was predictable. The threat of the pass in the red zone wasn’t exactly scaring defenses.
All of those are true. Tanier acknowledged it too, noting,
So when an otherwise awesome rusher like Chubb spends a whole year going backward near the goal line, it typically has little to do with him and much more to do with a) a bad offensive line; b) bad play-calling; and c) bad luck.
Better blocking and more intelligent, focused play-calling will certainly help Chubb. Both of those should happen under new head coach Kevin Stefanski and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt. Chubb is not an adept pile-leaper, so avoiding those type of plays would help out.