What It Means:

Kareem Hunt was the Browns' primary third-down back during his four years with the team, but since he is no longer on the roster, Chubb is poised to play a larger role. “He’s got more work in training camp at that role because we don’t have Kareem,” Mitchell said. “So now Nick is in there on third down, as well.” The Browns' other options are 2022 fifth-round pick Jerome Ford and 2021 sixth-round pick Demetric Felton. Ford isn't expected to be a factor in the passing game, but Felton could steal some receiving work from Chubb. As a rookie, Felton had 18 catches on 21 targets for 181 yards and 2 touchdowns while seeing limited playing time. Chubb averaged 32.3 targets, 24.8 receptions, and 210.3 yards over the last four seasons while Hunt was on the team.

Felton averaged a robust 8.6 yards per target in that 2021 season while Chubb has averaged 6.3 yards per target for his career, including a personal-best 8.3 in 2020. That efficiency could earn Felton a role on third downs, but Chubb is a superior pass-blocker. Chubb is currently the RB2 in numberFire's preseason rankings and our models project him for 342.6 carries, 1,695.9 rushing yards, 23.7 receptions, 32.3 targets, 184.0 receiving yards, and 12.07 touchdowns.