Mid-week thoughts

It took a series of technical machinations, too complicated to delineate here, to land Nick Chubb in Cleveland. In this case, the end definitely justified the means by which it was accomplished.

Suffice it to say Browns General Manager John Dorsey, taking over late in the 2017 season for the departed Sashi Brown, whose trade with Houston landed the Texans’ second-round pick, dropped the hammer and grabbed Chubb with that pick, the 35th overall selection in 2018.

Chubb joined a team whose history is littered with great running backs like Pro Football Hall of Famers Marion Motley, Jim Brown and Leroy Kelly, He is without question the franchise’s best runner not only since the National Football League allowed Cleveland back into the fold, but one of the best since that fabled trio.

The 5-11, 230-pounder has become the perfect complement in an attack that chugged along slowly in the first three games this season before taking off behind his scintillating running in last Sunday’s victory in Baltimore.

He has that rare combination of raw power, surprisingly quick feet and dazzling speed, a gift he takes seriously and full advantage of as he begins to build his NFL reputation and résumé.

He is tackle breaker who compiles impressive yards-after-contact statistics. It generally takes more than one or two men to bring him down. He is nearly impossible to pin down in the open field, especially with his innate ability to use jump cuts at the proper time.

That Chubb began the 2018 season on the bench because head coach Hue Jackson, who should have known better, incorrectly believed he wasn’t ready yet for the NFL still boggles the mind. Jackson used him sparingly, preferring veteran Carlos Hyde.

The quiet young man from Georgia, who likes to let his ability to run with the football do all his talking, sat dutifully for the first six games of the 2018 season. Carried the football only 16 times.

Fans got a sneak preview of the future in game four, a 45-43 overtime loss in Oakland. Chubb popped off the bench and popped touchdown runs of 63 and 41 yards, flashing the kind of speed fans saw in the Ravens victory.

His reward? Sitting on the bench for two more games before Dorsey had seen enough. Four days after a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, the GM dealt Hyde to Jacksonville. Jackson had no choice but to start Chubb.

Along the way, he made noise with a 176-yard effort in a victory over Atlanta. It included a 92-yard scoring gallop, breaking Bobby Mitchell’s club mark of 90 yards and prompting quarterback Baker Mayfield to exclaim, “Did you see that handoff?”

While Mayfield is the ringleader of the offense, you cannot minimize Chubb’s importance to the success or failure on that side of the line of scrimmage. His running contributes heavily to the quarterback’s success.

Opposing defenses must pay close attention to Chubb, whose ability to break long runs is always imminent. Plays are technically designed to go all the way. Chubb is a personification of that philosophy because he can do just that at any given moment. In theory, that takes off some of the pressure on Mayfield on early downs.

He is well on the way to putting up a Jim Brown type of season, averaging nearly 100 yards a game on the ground. His career per-carry average in 20 games is 5.16 yards. Brown averaged an NFL record 5.22 yards a carry and 104 yards a game over his famed nine-year career.

That 88-yard run Sunday buttressed the notion Chubb is the NFL’s best breakaway running back. The initial burst behind the blocks of JC Tretter and Eric Kush and the seal block by Demetrius Harris on the edge enabled him to travel the distance untouched.

If there was any question as to whether he had breakaway speed, it was dispelled quickly with the latest romp. He jetted the first 38 yards, then went breathtakingly supersonic the final 50.

Equally impressive was his 14-yard scoring journey early in the third quarter against the Ravens during which he cut back against the grain and broke three tackles en route to the end zone.

The Browns are lucky to have this offensive weapon and even luckier to have a general manager who was fortunate the kid was still there and wise enough to select him.

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Second (guessing) thoughts . . . When the fourth pick of the 2018 college football draft rolled around and the Browns were on the clock again after shocking the pundits by selecting Mayfield with the top overall pick, it was assumed they would improve their pass rush by grabbing edge rusher Bradley Chubb.

But defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, according to reports, lobbied for his side of the football and preferred a shutdown cornerback. That ostensibly is how Denzel Ward became the lottery’s second surprise selection.

The former Cleveland-area high school and Ohio State standout, widely rated the best cornerback in the draft, was known more for his cover skills than his tackling technique. He suffered two concussions last season as a result and missed three games.

This season, he has missed the last three games with hamstring problems and is thisclose to being labeled injury prone. The more his health problems tether him to the bench, the more it looks as though his selection was unwise.

Also on the board at that time besides Bradley Chubb was guard Quenton Nelson, whom the draft experts said was the best offensive lineman to come out in a decade.  He proved it by playing well enough to be named a first-team All-Pro in his rookie season.

(I liked Chubb, now out with a torn ACL in Denver, and Nelson, still playing at an All-Pro level in Indianapolis, much more than Ward at the time. Would have been happy with either. Dorsey had the opportunity to overrule Williams at the time. Wonder if he regrets not doing it.)

Clearly in the nature of a second guess, whom would you rather have in Seal Brown and Orange, Ward or Nelson? While I like Chubb, I believe Nelson would have been the best choice and a more solid fit for the Browns given the current composition of the offensive line.