Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb is coming off a gruesome injury in 2023 that’ll certainly impact his fantasy football outlook and where he’ll be drafted.
Below, I’ll examine Chubb, analyze the injury situation, and determine whether he’s worth adding to your roster.
Nick Chubb’s Fantasy Profile for the 2024 NFL Season
If you want to utilize the ZeroRB fantasy football strategy, Chubb could very well be a candidate for that. He’s going No. 93 overall in PPR leagues, which slots at RB34. This is borderline RB3 territory.
As mentioned, Chubb suffered an injury that required surgery on his MCL, ACL, and meniscus. This came close to a decade after he suffered injuries to his PCL, MCL, and LCL and dislocated his knee. All of these injuries are to the same knee, which is severely unlucky.
According to TruMedia, Chubb was playing quite well before the injury. He had 28 rushes for 170 yards, was mostly used on first down, and averaged 6.1 yards per carry.
He also caught four passes for 21 yards. This happened in Week 2, so there wasn’t a lot of time for Chubb to rack up stats, but those numbers were already looking fantastic for the season ahead. All of this was after he carried the ball 302 times for 1,525 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2022.
Whenever Chubb has been on the field, he’s been excellent. His other injury came while he was in college, but of course, Chubb is now 28, and he’s had massive injuries to the same knee.
Jerome Ford, D’Onta Foreman, and Pierre Strong Jr. are also on the backfield depth chart. Ford took on the bulk of the carries in Chubb’s absence last year, with 204 of them.
Coming off this injury, the Browns have said that they won’t rush Chubb back. Then, on Aug. 26, Adam Schefter of ESPN reported that Chubb will start the year on the Physically Unable to Perform List (PUP) and will miss the season’s first four games. Having that clarity on the situation is great, but it will impact his ADP.
The Browns have a Week 10 bye week.
Is Chubb a Good Fantasy Pick?
I’m still willing to roll the dice on Chubb. With this news of him going on the PUP list being so recent, we haven’t had any time yet to see how this will impact his ADP.
But with the “finality” to the questions heading into the season, we could see Chubb’s value drop, as drafters may be unsure if he’ll be seen really at all.
If you can get Chubb at around No. 100 overall, which is in the ninth round, you won’t be relying on him to start the season for you anyway.
MORE: Fantasy Team Names | Fantasy League Names
It’s especially helpful if your league has an injured reserve spot. You can place him on there and pick up another asset in the meantime to help round out that running back or flex position depth.
If Chubb can come back and be productive to the level we’re used to, I’d be amazed, but I do still think he has enough natural talent to warrant a spot on rosters.
Look ahead to Week 5 and make decisions as more news comes out, but given his talent and ADP, yes, I’d take a swing at Chubb for my fantasy roster.