Aug. 22, 2026, 10:50 a.m. ET
In the context of the offenses he played in, Nick Chubb was one of the greatest fantasy RBs of this era. His retirement comes roughly eight years to the day after his first impressive performance, which came against the Bills. With the Browns facing off against Buffalo today — the first day of Chubb’s retirement — it’s a fitting bookend to an incredible career.
Among the more than 800 retired running backs who have entered the NFL since 1996, Chubb is one of only 11 to have begun their careers with five consecutive top-20 RB fantasy seasons.
He achieved this despite his Browns finishing 20th or worse in total points in four of those five seasons. Additionally, Cleveland was 11th in passing yards per game in four of those five years. He also didn’t benefit from PPR-friendly targets, finishing inside the top 30 among RBs only once.
So much of what he achieved had to come on the ground, and since he played in sub-par offenses, he seemingly had to work that much harder to manufacture chunk yards and touchdowns. This is reflected in the fact that he sported an elite broken-tackle rate in each of those first five seasons, contributing to a similarly elite yards-after-first-contact rate. The result: 5.0+ yards per carry in each of those five campaigns.
His total fantasy output doesn’t seem remarkable. Among the retired RBs who entered the league over the past 30 years, 43 scored more career fantasy points than Chubb. But during that first five-year stretch, he did more with less than perhaps any other running back of this era.
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For more on Nick Chubb’s legacy, listen to this recent podcast episode.