Well, the NFL season is officially over, which means Matt Patricia can get to work focusing on next year’s plan. Nick Chubb could be a key part of that plan.
The sad reality has finally set in for every NFL fan: football season is officially over. And for us Detroit Lions fans, the true season can start as we start the yearly routine of watching mock drafts and dreaming for next season.
Ever since the departure of the legendary Barry Sanders, the Detroit Lions have not exactly been good at running the football. We’ve all heard the statistic hundreds of times now: the last Lion to rush for 100 yards in a game was Reggie Bush on Thanksgiving Day in 2013.
Needless to say, it would be probably be important for Motor City to look to improve upon their mediocre-at-best running game this season, and drafting a runner in the first round would be one of the easiest ways to do that.
General Manager Bob Quinn has shown a history of spending his high draft picks and tough guys from the SEC. 3 of his 4 picks in the first 2 rounds of his first two drafts were SEC players that were known tough guys, with prime examples being defensive linemen A’Shawn Robinson and linebacker Jarrad Davis.
When it comes to known tough guys from the SEC, running back Nick Chubb fits the bill pretty well. Standing at 5’10” and 225 pounds, he’s a compact ball of muscle. He’s an impacful feature back who has good vision and is really hard to tackle. He is going to make an impact in this league, and hopefully that impact is made here in Detroit.
Chubb put up some impressive numbers in his 47 games with the Bulldogs, racking up 4,769 yards, 6.3 yards per carry and 44 touchdowns in his time with Georgia.
Chubb wasn’t too shabby when it came to catching the football either, as he had 361 receiving yards and 4 touchdown receptions as well. This is proof that he can be a great fit here in Detroit, as he can follow in the footsteps of Theo Riddick and be a versatile running back who can run and catch the football.
What separates Chubb from the other running backs in this deep draft class is his sheer strength and power. He is a YAC machine, as he keeps his strong legs moving, making it nearly impossible for him to tackled by just one defender. The Lions have never really had a true power back since Joique Bell left a few years ago, so Chubb could be a key cog in the offensive machine.
WalterFootball.com had a great comparison for Chubb in their scouting report of him. They see him as the next Frank Gore, saying that he has the ability to be a “downhill hard-nosed, runner who has gotten a lot of yards after contact in his NFL career,” just like Gore has been in his time with the San Francisco 49ers and the Indianapolis Colts.
Nick Chubb isn’t really on the Detroit radar when it comes to the mock draft circuit, as the only mock draft I have seen slating him with the Lions was this one on Sports Fan Entertainment. But as the offseason goes along and Chubb hopefully records impressive numbers at the Combine, expect to see his name on much more mock drafts for the Lions.
Chubb is a running back who had a really impressive college career and is ready to make a splash in this league. Hopefully that splash is made here in Detroit.
Next: Detroit Lions head coaches - From ordinary to catastrophe
Now, let’s end this preview as we properly should, with some highlights of Nick Chubb running all over some helpless defenders. Lions fans should hope to see Chubb making more impressive runs like this in that beautiful Honolulu blue next season.