July 11, 2026, 5:32 p.m. ET
The leading rushers over the last ten years are a true reminder of the career that was robbed in Week 2 of the 2023 season.
Browns fans everywhere can probably remember exactly where they were when Cleveland got their first primetime game in what felt like forever. It was a Monday Night Football bout between the Browns, who just rolled the AFC North favorites, the Cincinnati Bengals.
They went to Pittsburgh and were controlling the tempo of the football game after a chaotic pick-six start. Nick Chubb got rolling and was averaging over 6 yards per carry. That was until he got a handoff in the low red zone, and Minkah Fitzpatrick decided to go low, very low, on Chubb to bring him down. Chubb’s foot was stuck in the ground while Fitzpatrick’s full body went directly through Chubb’s knee, and the rest is truly history.
Chubb experienced one of the worst injuries you will ever see, and the recovery reflected that. As he sits now, three years removed from that injury, he is just very clearly not the same person. The player who had incredible explosion, vision, speed, and heart is simply a shell of his old self. He runs with a limp, and every time he touches the football, it is a reminder of why careers in the NFL are not long.
Even with five seasons virtually unaccounted for, Nick Chubb still has the ninth-most rushing yards in the last decade.
Every once in a while, there is something that reminds you of the career that was stolen by Fitzpatrick. The most recent example is this list of the top running backs from the last 10 seasons.
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Derrick Henry is obviously first on this list, as he has rushed for over 13,000 yards in the last decade. He simply doesn’t slow down. Ezekiel Elliot checks in second place with 9,130 yards, while Saquon comes in third with 8,356. All of those numbers are really good, but further down the list in ninth place is Nick Chubb.
Chubb has rushed for 7,349 yards in the past decade, a decade in which he wasn’t even in the league for two of the years. Chubb’s career began in the 2018 season with Barkley, so they both missed two years on this specific list.
However, Chubb’s number includes seasons of 170 yards in 2023, 332 yards in 2024, and 506 yards in 2025.
There is no other way to describe it other than a true shame and one of the biggest what-ifs in truly the history of the Browns franchise and the history of the NFL. What if he doesn’t get hurt and the Browns start the 2023 season 8-2? What if he doesn’t get hurt and he is still in Cleveland? What if he doesn’t get hurt and he is on his way to a Hall of Fame career?
All of that is for naught thanks to Mincah Fitzpatrick. It is one of the true robberies in the history of NFL football, and Browns fans will never forget.