Nick Chubb at No. 37 on PFF Top 50 list

Browns running back among the league’s best.

It may have taken a bit longer than necessary for Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb to get his career going, but once it did, Chubb has firmly established himself as one of the league’s best backs.

Chubb fell just four yards short in his rookie season from posting three consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons. His 1,494 rushing yards in 2019 is the best mark by a running back in franchise history not named Jim Brown. Finally, Chubb is already seventh on the franchise’s all-time list in both career rushing yards and rushing touchdowns.

Not bad for a player who was the fourth running back selected in the 2018 NFL Draft and saw most of the first half of his rookie season stalled by the incompetence of then-head coach Hue Jackson.

That is all in the past and now Chubb is entering the 2021 season ranked as the 37th best player in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus’ list of the Top 50 players in the league:

There is no better pure ball carrier in the NFL than Nick Chubb. Since entering the league, the Browns back has earned a PFF rushing grade of 92.6, just behind Derrick Henry (92.7), though Chubb has a better broken tackle rate, having made 168 would-be tacklers miss on 680 carries.

The former Georgia standout has been phenomenal as a rushing threat, too, breaking off 101 runs of 10 or more yards in his NFL career, just 19 fewer than Henry on 216 fewer rushing attempts. He would be ranked even higher on this list if he were more of a factor in the passing game.

Chubb is the second Browns player to appear on the list, following safety John Johnson III, who came in at No. 41.

The release of the rest of the players on the list will continue throughout the week.