Oldfaithful
Hall of Famer
2017 Scouting Report
This is a series of articles about players I have been personally scouting. Since I have no life I enjoy watching the tapes of several prospects. Would I consider myself an expert or a guru? Nope. I’m not applying for jobs with other teams. Would I say I’ve had more hits than misses? Yes, especially over the past three years.
Now let’s do this. My guy, and yes, he’s mine. Nick Chubb
Positives:
Nick Chubb is a very fun watch on tape. Not as fun as he used to be, but still a very good prospect. Had Chubb not suffered from that freak injury, we’d be talking about a top 15 pick… Last year. Now, he’s more in the second to third round grade, and has a chance of falling in the draft because of the sheer depth in this class. Which is fine. I’ll take it.
(yes, I made these two gifs. You're welcome)
Nick Chubb is a bowling ball. Not necessarily a true power back, which I’ll address later on, but he doesn’t go down easy. One of the best traits he displays as a RB is that he constantly keeps the play going by continuously either churning his legs non stop, or making moves in the open field. Because of this, he’s going to break some tackles at the pro level. Low center of gravity plus good speed plus constant churning of legs means he’s going to be a hard runner to bring down in the open field. This ability is going to allow him to get an extra yard or two before going down.
But Chubb is a moneymaker in-between the tackles, and can wear any defense down.
His entire tape against Vanderbilt shows Chubb’s ability to find the hole and run in between the tackles with remarkable proficiency. And when he hits the hole, he hits it hard. He sometimes has a tendency to dance around and look for the hole in the backfield, and given that he has the ability to make people miss by making good cuts in the open field, this isn’t a negative. Because when he hits that hole, he becomes far more of a north and south runner than an east west runner. What impresses me is that he displays traits as both.
Chubb also displays good burst when he hits the hole, an underrated trait of his. He has decent long speed and good ability to make people miss in the open field with smart, and sometimes subtle cuts.
(no I did not make this one, but I thought that this is a good display of his abilities and vision)
While he’s not this explosive anymore, his vision and body control makes him dangerous in the open field which could allow him to gain more yards.
Finally, Chubb is a very good back in pass protection. He knows how to set his feet and contain the defenders. This works to his advantage because this will allow him to play on all three downs at the pro level.
Overall, Chubb is a bowling ball with good burst, and good cutting ability, with very good vision. He’s got all the traits you would want in a franchise runner. But sadly, as much as I like him he’s not the perfect prospect. Let’s examine why.
Negatives:
Chubb’s injury has clearly cost him some explosiveness. Don’t believe me? Here
If he never suffered the freak injury Nick Chubb is a top 10 pick. He used to have great speed and really good explosiveness. He would have been a nightmare to have brought down in the open field.
People also knock on Chubb for not being a particularly effective receiver. I equate this to the criticism I’ve seen of Mark Andrews not being good at the jump ball. Chubb is given very few opportunities in the passing game to show he can shine. Similar to Melvin Gordon in college. But I believe he will be a solid receiving back at the next level. He appears to have solid form when he does get the ability to catch the ball.
Even though his burst isn’t elite, he’s not exactly lacking in it. In fact, I’d still say it’s above average.
Here, he gets his only receiving TD of last year. And while he doesn’t show that he’s got great cutting ability after the catch(which I think would be likely, he displays good cutting ability as a runner so it should in theory transfer over. Especially since he doesn’t have to look for holes), but he turns on the jets and the defender just loses him. In the pros this would be different, but he clearly displays NFL speed here.
Pro Comparison: Maurice Jones Drew. Chubb is a really hard back to make a comparison for. But ultimately I feel as if MJD is the best choice. He’d be an even better comparison if Chubb was still the super explosive back he used to be. But overall, he plays the game like MJD. Not necessarily a power back, but will lower his head and get the extra few tough yards because of a lower center of gravity. Like MJD he’s got the ability to make good cuts in the open field and make defense pay. He may not be as fast, but he plays like him, and if you tell me that a running back is going to have a similar career to MJD, I’ll be a very happy camper.
Grade: Mid Second Rounder- Early Third: If was still super explosive, I’d put him as a top ten pick. But ulitmatley, given the depth in the class at the running back position, and the fact that an injury has ultimately robbed him of some of his athleticism, and that he’s playing in a committee, I think his stock has the potential to fall to the early third round. Nonetheless, he’s a really talented player who barring health is going to be a good running back in this league, potentially a pro bowler if he can get into the right system.
This is a series of articles about players I have been personally scouting. Since I have no life I enjoy watching the tapes of several prospects. Would I consider myself an expert or a guru? Nope. I’m not applying for jobs with other teams. Would I say I’ve had more hits than misses? Yes, especially over the past three years.
Now let’s do this. My guy, and yes, he’s mine. Nick Chubb
Positives:
Nick Chubb is a very fun watch on tape. Not as fun as he used to be, but still a very good prospect. Had Chubb not suffered from that freak injury, we’d be talking about a top 15 pick… Last year. Now, he’s more in the second to third round grade, and has a chance of falling in the draft because of the sheer depth in this class. Which is fine. I’ll take it.
(yes, I made these two gifs. You're welcome)
Nick Chubb is a bowling ball. Not necessarily a true power back, which I’ll address later on, but he doesn’t go down easy. One of the best traits he displays as a RB is that he constantly keeps the play going by continuously either churning his legs non stop, or making moves in the open field. Because of this, he’s going to break some tackles at the pro level. Low center of gravity plus good speed plus constant churning of legs means he’s going to be a hard runner to bring down in the open field. This ability is going to allow him to get an extra yard or two before going down.
But Chubb is a moneymaker in-between the tackles, and can wear any defense down.
His entire tape against Vanderbilt shows Chubb’s ability to find the hole and run in between the tackles with remarkable proficiency. And when he hits the hole, he hits it hard. He sometimes has a tendency to dance around and look for the hole in the backfield, and given that he has the ability to make people miss by making good cuts in the open field, this isn’t a negative. Because when he hits that hole, he becomes far more of a north and south runner than an east west runner. What impresses me is that he displays traits as both.
Chubb also displays good burst when he hits the hole, an underrated trait of his. He has decent long speed and good ability to make people miss in the open field with smart, and sometimes subtle cuts.
(no I did not make this one, but I thought that this is a good display of his abilities and vision)
While he’s not this explosive anymore, his vision and body control makes him dangerous in the open field which could allow him to gain more yards.
Finally, Chubb is a very good back in pass protection. He knows how to set his feet and contain the defenders. This works to his advantage because this will allow him to play on all three downs at the pro level.
Overall, Chubb is a bowling ball with good burst, and good cutting ability, with very good vision. He’s got all the traits you would want in a franchise runner. But sadly, as much as I like him he’s not the perfect prospect. Let’s examine why.
Negatives:
Chubb’s injury has clearly cost him some explosiveness. Don’t believe me? Here
If he never suffered the freak injury Nick Chubb is a top 10 pick. He used to have great speed and really good explosiveness. He would have been a nightmare to have brought down in the open field.
People also knock on Chubb for not being a particularly effective receiver. I equate this to the criticism I’ve seen of Mark Andrews not being good at the jump ball. Chubb is given very few opportunities in the passing game to show he can shine. Similar to Melvin Gordon in college. But I believe he will be a solid receiving back at the next level. He appears to have solid form when he does get the ability to catch the ball.
Even though his burst isn’t elite, he’s not exactly lacking in it. In fact, I’d still say it’s above average.
Here, he gets his only receiving TD of last year. And while he doesn’t show that he’s got great cutting ability after the catch(which I think would be likely, he displays good cutting ability as a runner so it should in theory transfer over. Especially since he doesn’t have to look for holes), but he turns on the jets and the defender just loses him. In the pros this would be different, but he clearly displays NFL speed here.
Pro Comparison: Maurice Jones Drew. Chubb is a really hard back to make a comparison for. But ultimately I feel as if MJD is the best choice. He’d be an even better comparison if Chubb was still the super explosive back he used to be. But overall, he plays the game like MJD. Not necessarily a power back, but will lower his head and get the extra few tough yards because of a lower center of gravity. Like MJD he’s got the ability to make good cuts in the open field and make defense pay. He may not be as fast, but he plays like him, and if you tell me that a running back is going to have a similar career to MJD, I’ll be a very happy camper.
Grade: Mid Second Rounder- Early Third: If was still super explosive, I’d put him as a top ten pick. But ulitmatley, given the depth in the class at the running back position, and the fact that an injury has ultimately robbed him of some of his athleticism, and that he’s playing in a committee, I think his stock has the potential to fall to the early third round. Nonetheless, he’s a really talented player who barring health is going to be a good running back in this league, potentially a pro bowler if he can get into the right system.
