The Cleveland Browns have a ton of holes to fill on offense this season, and one of those could be backup running back, especially since Quinshon Judkins is coming off a serious injury. Nick Chubb is not expected to return to the Houston Texans, so does a return to Cleveland make sense from the team’s perspective?
Because of how incredible of a player Chubb was and how much he meant to this team and this fanbase, it was genuinely heartbreaking to see his career derailed by injury, first the devastating knee injury early in the 2023 season against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and then after he came back from that, a broken foot late in the 2024 campaign. Chubb recovered and played 15 games for the Texans in 2025, looking clearly healthier than he did in 2024 but still a shell of his former special self.
During his prime with the Browns, Chubb dominated on outside zone runs, able to use his elite explosiveness and unmatched vision to hit holes and eat up massive chunks of yardage. With the Texans, the majority of his carries came on inside runs, which he executed fairly well. Despite Houston’s subpar offensive line, Chubb averaged 4.1 yards per carry, up from the 3.3 he put up in 2024 but still a far cry from the 5+ that was standard for him pre-injury.