Amid many changes, Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt remain the heart and soul of the Browns' offense. (Joshua Gunter, Cleveland.com)
As Kevin Stefanski reshapes his offense for Deshaun Watson, don’t forget about Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt.
Remember them?
With all the changes the Browns are making on offense, don’t forget that Chubb and Hunt remain – now more than ever – the unit’s heart and soul.
“I talked with an NFL defensive coordinator the other day,” a league personnel executive related to me via text message. “He said having Chubb and Hunt on the field at the same time would really put his defense in a bind. Because they both run so well with the ball and are threats in the passing game (block/catch). It would give the offense so many different options.
“That scares him way more than an extra wideout or tight end. He said having two backs on the field is so rare now, it’s even harder to defend. And they could really get exotic with them.”
This was music to my ears, of course.
Since Hunt joined the Browns in 2019, I have clamored for Browns coaches to creatively use both backs together. Not in the caveman-football method of one back lead-blocking for the other.
I’m talking about Chubb and Hunt lining up in the backfield. Maybe one motions out of there. Maybe it’s Hunt, maybe it’s Chubb. Maybe neither. Either could be pass options. Maybe not. Either could be handed the football. Maybe not.
Are you getting the drift here? Defenses wouldn’t know what to make of it. The options would be plenty and force defensive coordinators to think on the fly. Do they stick with their now-prevalent nickel defensive package? Do they try to cover Chubb or Hunt with a linebacker?
Nobody practices against two backs, much less two backs like Chubb and Hunt.
Lost opportunities
I thought Freddie Kitchens would see the genius of it. In 2018 in his second game as interim offensive coordinator, Kitchens sprung an inverted wishbone three-back set on the Atlanta Falcons for one series, and it accounted for 7 yards a play until Kitchens got too cute and had Dontrell Hilliard threw a pass for Baker Mayfield. It was intercepted, sending that three-back set into a sealed box stuffed with moth balls.
When former NFL rushing champion Hunt arrived the following year and Kitchens was elevated to head coach, the idea of a Chubb-Hunt backfield was undermined by Hunt’s eight-game suspension to begin the year. No time to implement anything creative.
Kevin Stefanski took over in 2020, but so did COVID-19. Stefanski’s first offseason program and minicamps were wiped out and training camp became a six-week race to catch up. Preseason games were canceled. For the first time, they were missed.
In 2021, lingering COVID protocols wiped out the offseason program again and training camp practice time was altered when player union prez JC Tretter and players reps complained of too much work.
Known for his creativity and utilization of personnel, Stefanski never had the chance to develop a Chubb-Hunt tandem into an offensive force the likes of which no other team could fathom.
“I haven’t had an offseason yet with the players,” Stefanski said at NFL meetings in Palm Beach, FL this week. “I’m looking forward to having a normal offseason.”
Playing the numbers game
In Palm Beach, the transition to quarterback Deshaun Watson had Stefanski thinking of 11, 12 and 13 personnel groupings.
Not me.
I’m dreaming of 21 and 22.
Let’s explain these numerical cliches.
In NFL jargon, the first digit is the number of running backs on the field and the second is the number of tight ends.
11 is what the Cincinnati Bengals and most descendants of Rams coach Sean McVay favor – one back, one tight end and three wide receivers. Here’s the hitch: You better have three really good receivers.
12 and 13 are what Stefanski has used more than anyone in his two seasons as Browns coach – one back, two tight ends, two receivers; or one back, three tight ends and one receiver. Guess what? You better have two or three really good tight ends, which wasn’t the case here.
Watson’s arrival – and the release of tight end Austin Hooper – is causing Stefanski to rethink everything.
“Ultimately, we want to run the 2022 Cleveland Browns offense, and whatever elements that has in it, we hope that we have enough in our offense where we can pivot week to week to certain elements,” Stefanski said. “But to say that we're going to wholesale change everything? We’ll see.”
So now may be the ideal time for Stefanski to go 21 – two backs, one tight end, two receivers; or 22 – two backs, two tight ends, one receiver.
“Defenses are so zoned in on stopping the passing game, it makes sense to zig when others are zagging,” said the team personnel executive. “But play-callers don’t really have that in their bag of tricks.
“I think it’s a big threat that the Browns are not taking advantage of.”
The topper is that Watson really gives Stefanski an intermittent third ball-carrier.
“Deshaun, in his last year [playing], led the league in passing,” GM Andrew Berry said to Northeast Ohio reporters at the NFL meetings. “He might’ve led the league in completion percentage as well. He could win in the pocket. He could win out of the pocket. He can throw off platforms and was a very good decision-maker. He’s also a quarterback who’s able to create with his legs.
“Whether that’s with the read-option game, whether that’s with making a play off schedule, whether that’s making a play and buying time off the field, that’s pretty unique and hard to find,” Berry continued. “That obviously opens up the playbook for an offensive staff and offensive coordinator in terms of what a coaching staff can do with that skillset. It also makes it where you don’t have to be perfect as a play-caller. He can make a bad play good with his arm or his legs. That’s something that was really excited for all of us.”
Watson threw for an NFL-high 4,823 yards in his final year on the field for the Houston Texans in 2020. He didn’t have a running game, or much of anything else, and the two-time division champion Texans fell to 4-12.
All those passing yards didn’t amount to a hill of beans because the Texans were playing catch-up most of their games. What’s more, Watson struggled to put up one touchdown and 163 yards passing in his only career visit to Cleveland amid 25mph winds in a mid-November game.
Watson has no idea what he’s in for in December and January, when the Browns will need to use their weather to their advantage in a push to the playoffs.
The addition of Watson gives the Browns a quarterback who can win with his arm when needed. But with Chubb and Hunt, Watson won’t have to throw for 4,800 yards.
The Browns now have an elite quarterback. But other than Amari Cooper, they don’t have elite receivers. They don’t have elite tight ends.
What they have are two elite backs, and it’s time they incorporate them in a way no other team can match.
