8 Position battles to watch out for heading into NFL training camps

#5 Browns’ early-down running back – Carlos Hyde and Nick Chubb

While the Browns have an excellent all-around back in Duke Johnson at their disposal, the fourth-year man out of Miami will have most of his snaps coming on passing downs as well as splitting out wide as a receiver. He is not the type of back, who you want to pound opponents on first-and-ten or ask to run through the line in short-yardage situations. That’s what Cleveland brought in veteran Carlos Hyde and rookie Nick Chubb for.

While Hyde came close to 1000 yards rushing with the 49ers the last two years after arriving there as the potential replacement for the amazing Frank Gore, it never felt like he was Kyle Shanahan’s guy to feature going forward. San Francisco let him walk in free agency after probably his best year as a pro and now he brings his hard running-style and pass protection prowess to Ohio.

However, the Browns didn’t stop there and decided to add Georgia’s Nick Chubb in the second round of the draft. Chubb had a phenomenal freshman campaign, stepping for Todd Gurley, but after a horrendous knee injury the following year, he has never quite looked the same.

Last season he and his fellow Bulldog back Sony Michel dominated college football, combining for over 2500 yards and 31 touchdowns on the ground, on their way to leading Georgia to their first National Championship game appearance in almost 40 years.

I’ve been rooting for Chubb ever since I first saw him enter the SEC and even though concerns about his knee won’t go away anytime soon, I think he brings a lot of very good things to the table. He runs with a lower center of gravity and great balance, short-area quickness and footwork, displays excellent vision in different schemes and his physical style of running has a cumulative effect on defenders, which leads to his biggest runs coming at the end of games.

While there certainly are a lot of similarities between the Browns’ two newest additions to the backfield, I see Chubb having the upper hand in this competition. Hyde might be one of the top pass-protecting backs in this league, but Chubb holds his own in that department as well, plus he has started every game outside of that one knee injury while Hyde finally played his first full season in 2017.

To me, Chubb just has a better feel of how plays develop and how to use subtle cuts to set up his blockers. I believe the Browns under Hue Jackson and now Todd Haley will pride themselves on being a tough, ground-and-pound team with Tyrod Taylor getting on the move off play-action and all three of their backs could amass up to 150 touches.