When the Cleveland Browns signed former San Francisco 49ers running back Carlos Hyde in free agency, it was widely assumed he’d become the bell-cow starter. Of course, then Cleveland surprised many by selecting Nick Chubb out of Georgia in the second round, muddying up the waters as far as the team’s running back depth chart is concerned.
This leads us to what ESPN’s Pat McManamon had to say recently in an article discussing rookie running backs ahead of the 2018 season. He believes Chubb has a chance to be the team’s starting running back and noted, it “would not be surprising to see Chubb get the bulk of the every-down carries, especially early in games.”
Along this line of thinking, McManamon speculated that Hyde could be relegated to short-yardage, goal-line situations, which would be surprising considering his success as a starter in San Francisco.
Of course, then there’s Duke Johnson, who recently inked a nice contract extension, too. Needless to say, those muddy waters in Cleveland haven’t necessarily subsided to the point where anything’s clear right now.