Chubbernaut
Look I don’t need to tell any of you not to listen to Chris Spielman, but during the game last Sunday he gave us his three factors that make a great running back. It was pretty much word salad:
- Can make unblocked player miss 7 out of 10 times
- Always falls forward
- Can beat you with speed and power
None of these actually really explain attributes that great running backs have. They’re just things that you see them do. Helpfully Nick Chubb on his first touchdown run actually showed three attributes that elite-level running backs have that make them great. And I think at this point that it’s beyond argument that Nick Chubb is an elite running back. He’s averaging over five yards a carry for his career. This guy is honestly ridiculous.
So, in chronological order, here are the three attributes Chubb showed on his first TD that make him so great:
- Vision
- Lateral Agility
- Balance
Let’s go through these as we look at his TD:
Vision
Now, Chubb has some of the best vision in the NFL. Watching him pick his way through lanes, it’s like he has bird’s eye view of the field. He sees running lanes as a flow chart, rapidly working through potential outcomes before picking where to go. The Browns are lined up in 21 personnel at Washington’s 16-yard line. They run an outside zone to the right. Nick Chubb’s seen this play before, and he didn’t like the ending. He sees the cutback lane open up as it did the previous time they ran this play, and instead this heads for it. Which brings us to the next attribute.
Lateral agility
Chubb’s ability to move sideways without losing momentum comes in handy more than once, but it’s really what sets up this touchdown run. It’s like pretty worn out to compare things to chess, but a great run, like chess, is a process. Chubb knows that the cutback lane is there, but he knows he needs to sell the run right to get defenders flowing that way to truly open up the cutback. This is where his lateral agility comes into play. Since he can so nimbly change direction, it allows Chubb to “press” the cutback lane, and quickly hit it once the defenders are moving in the initial direction of the play. The little jump cut to dodge Landon Collins in the hole is just showing off at that point. There’s still some traffic for Chubb to negotiate, which is where the third attribute comes into play.
Balance
Now Nick Chubb breaks a ton of tackles, it’s kind of his thing. Sure, to go back to Spielman, Chubb is a fast and powerful runner, but the NFL is full of fast and powerful runners. What really helps here is Chubb’s balance. Once he hits that cutback it’s by no means a done deal that he’s going to the end zone. Troy Apke flings himself at Nick Chubb and slides off him like trash in the wind. If I was going to describe Nick Chubb as a runner, I would probably go with something like “Squat”. He runs low to the ground, absorbs tackles without losing his balance, allowing him to keep his legs churning and not be pulled down.
Bruce Lee said be water. Nick Chubb is water
