After a brutal knee injury in Week 2 of the 2023 season, the hype Nick Chubb was receiving while rehabbing this offseason painted him as borderline superhuman.
This is #Browns RB Nick Chubb squatting 540+ pounds—just 8 months after undergoing multiple significant knee surgeries.
Insanity.pic.twitter.com/JlWnad2Wdm
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) July 15, 2024
An update on Nick Chubb: Currently, Chubb can run nearly full speed in a straight line and the next step in his recovery is cutting laterally, a big progression towards returning to the field. Chubb is ahead of schedule on his recovery after he underwent two surgeries in the fall… pic.twitter.com/DiLHImc6h4
— Noah Weiskopf (@BrownsWithNoah) June 28, 2024
What makes this story even more unbelievable is that the knee Chubb hurt last year is the same one he suffered an equally gruesome injury to in his sophomore season at Georgia.
While we all enjoy a good comeback story, seeing Chubb as the Week 1 starting running back for the Browns always seemed too good to be true. As Chubb continued to rehab on the sidelines during training camp, it became less and less likely he would be ready to start the season. The fairy tale truly ended Monday, as Chubb was placed on the PUP list, guaranteeing he would miss at least the first four games of the season.
Browns RB Nick Chubb (knee) will start the season on Reserve/PUP list, will miss first 4 games of the season. (via @TomPelissero) pic.twitter.com/sA87drsKkC
— NFL (@NFL) August 26, 2024
Chubb missing the start of the season was always the most likely outcome, so the Browns made sure to add depth to their backfield this offseason. During free agency, Cleveland went out and signed D’Onta Foreman and Nyheim Hines to play alongside Jerome Ford and Pierre Strong. So far this offseason Foreman has had his own injury scares, including one that made Chubb’s knee injury look mild in comparison.
#Browns on their knees praying for D’Onta Foreman, who was placed in an ambulance on a stretcher pic.twitter.com/Bc2TW8z7pr
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) August 1, 2024
Foreman suffered a neck injury that required him to be immobilized and taken to a hospital for evaluation. Thankfully, the injury proved not to be serious, and Foreman returned to the team later in the week. Things seemed to be going well until Foreman suffered a rib injury in Cleveland’s final preseason game against Seattle. There has yet to be any further clarification on the extent of the injury, but Foreman’s availability is very much in doubt to start the season.
Rib injury for Browns D’Onta Foreman
These could range from a bruise, to a rib cartilage injury, to a fracture, to a fracture that could have lacerated a nearby organ (lung, spleen, kidney, liver).
With Week 1 about 14 days away, unless he suffered a bruise or minor cartilage… https://t.co/vsTbZkZP8A
— Jesse Morse, MD (@DrJesseMorse) August 25, 2024
Foreman’s status for the start of the season is further jeopardized by the fact that he was cut by the Browns on Tuesday, although the team has the opportunity to bring him back before he hits waivers. As the team only has two RBs on its roster, Foreman rejoining the team seems likely unless a better talent becomes available to the team.
As things stand right now, the Browns have just two running backs on the 53-man roster: Jerome Ford and Pierre Strong, Jr.
One note: if the team intends to bring back D’Onta Foreman, it could re-sign him without him going to waivers. Could be a case of roster juggling as the… https://t.co/h0Z6vzcLlV
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) August 27, 2024
Foreman was not the lone Browns RB with a rib injury. Earlier in the week Strong left practice and was sent to the hospital after experiencing shortness of breath following an injury during individual drills.
Browns RB Pierre Strong Injury 🤕
Scary scene as he was rushed to the hospital during practice today 🏥
Happy to say he has been released with a rib contusion 👍
Rib injuries can be dangerous due to their proximity to the lungs, easy call to bring him to ER with complaints of… https://t.co/brH3v5JoRA
— Sebastian Fearon DPT, CSCS, OCS (@TheDegenDoc) August 22, 2024
For the time being, it looks like the only two RBs the Browns will definitively have to start the season are Ford and Strong, after Foreman was cut and Nyheim Hines was placed on the NFI list. If Foreman and Hines are sure to miss extended periods with their injuries (or not rejoin the team at all), the Browns will need to add more players to their backfield.
Fortunately, we have seen Ford operate as the lead back in Cleveland’s offense before, as he took over the role following Chubb’s knee injury last season.
During Ford’s time as the lead back for the Browns, he delivered for fantasy owners: scoring as an RB2 or better in 71% of his active games — including three weeks as the overall RB7 or better. The flip side is that Ford had more weeks of negative FPOE than positive, painting him more as a volume play than a bet on pure talent. With the uncertainty surrounding all the current RBs that are likely to be on the Browns roster for the opener, Ford looks like he is in line for as much volume as he can handle at the start of the 2024 season.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski will once again be calling plays for the Browns, but the hire of Ken Dorsey as the team’s offensive coordinator provides some signal that the team plans to implement a more pass-heavy approach. In news that is flying under the radar — but may be equally as important — Bill Callahan left the Browns to become the offensive line coach for his son in Tennessee this offseason. While the personnel on the Browns’ line stays relatively intact, the departure of one of the best position coaches of the last 30 years could lead to some regression in the trenches.
Chubb, Ford, and (potentially) Foreman are the only RBs on the Cleveland roster with ADPs in the draftable range in the FFPC’s Main Event and FantasyPros Championship contests. If fantasy managers are looking for early-season production while waiting for their zero-RB rosters to develop, Ford makes a decent pick at ADP. Still, with his displayed inefficiency and a possible shift in the offense, it would not be surprising to see him take a step back compared to last season. Whichever back can claim the second spot in the Browns’ backfield in any given week during Chubb’s absence may also be worth an add for teams in desperate need of RB depth. Strong and Foreman have both seen their time as RotoViz favorites early in their careers, and it can be argued that they may not be far behind Ford from a talent perspective.
When Chubb returns, we will likely see him split work with Ford to start. If Chubb can prove to be the superhuman that he has been made out to be, he may push Ford into an ancillary role by the time the fantasy playoffs come around. In the event that Chubb cannot return to his former self, Ford makes a good stash on the end of benches with some standalone value and plenty of contingent upside. But even in his best-case scenarios, expecting Ford to be more than a volume play may lead to disappointment.
Listen to Colm Kelly make the bull case for Nick Chubb on a recent episode of the RotoViz Best Ball Ball Show.
