It's becoming increasingly obvious that Nick Chubb has probably played his last game as a member of the Cleveland Browns, and even if the Browns do re-sign him, they will still need to find a No. 1 running back elsewhere.
While it sees more likely that Cleveland will find its answer in the NFL Draft, Bleacher Report's Moe Moton has connected the Browns to a very odd Chubb replacement: J.K. Dobbins.
In a piece where Moton listed the most underrated free agents remaining, he named Cleveland as the best fit for Dobbins, who spent the 2024 campaign with the Los Angeles Chargers.
"Dobbins would fit best in a backfield where he could share touches with a pass-catching running back who can also split the rushing workload" Moton wrote. "... The Cleveland Browns could be the ideal scenario for Dobbins with Jerome Ford in their backfield. Ford isn't a workhorse ball-carrier, but he's hauled in 81 passes for 544 yards and five touchdowns over the last two seasons."
Yes; from a stylistic perspective, signing Dobbins does make sense, but let's address the life-sized elephant in the room here: Dobbins has been even more injury-prone than Chubb throughout his NFL career.
The 26-year-old entered the NFL as a second-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens in 2020. After playing in 15 games during his rookie year, he went on to play nine games over the next three seasons combined, with eight of those appearances coming in 2022.
Even this past year, Dobbins missed four games with the Chargers due to a knee injury. When he was on the field, he produced, rushing for 905 yards and nine touchdowns while averaging 4.6 yards per carry, but why would the Browns want to jump from one injury-riddled halfback to another?
If you could guarantee that Dobbins would stay healthy, he would represent a fine pickup for Cleveland, but the Browns can't take the risk of bringing in another weapon with such a checkered medical history.
Cleveland would be far better served taking advantage of what is a very deep running back draft class.
