Breaking news! The Nick Chubb era starts now! Carlos Hyde? We will be seeing ya! The Cleveland Browns have traded Carlos Hyde to the Jacksonville Jaguars. This trade came out of nowhere. Hyde, 28, was signed to a three-year deal by Cleveland this offseason. The former Ohio State Buckeye figured to be the Browns starting running back for a good chunk of time. 6 weeks later, Hyde has been shipped out of town.
Adam Schefter of ESPN was the first to report the news:
Browns are trading RB Carlos Hyde to Jacksonville, source tells ESPN.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 19, 2018
Schefter continued by stating that the Browns will receive some sort of mid-round draft pick compensation. The motivation for this move was to get more carries for 2018 second round pick Nick Chubb. Rightly so, Chubb has been nothing short of electric during his time with the Browns. The former standout at Georgia has rushed for 173 yards on just 16 carries. That’s a 10.8 yard per carry average. Chubb will now become the lead back with Duke Johnson working more as the change of pace guy.
Chubb needed more touches. Chubb’s talent is undeniable. You could always make the argument that Chubb was better than Todd Gurley when both of them were in the same backfield in college. The question was whether Chubb was going to overcome a gruesome knee injury that he suffered in 2015. There’s no question that so far, Chubb looks more than healthy.
It’s also clear that the Jags were desperate for a running back. Leonard Fournette couldn’t walk down the street without injuring himself. T.J. Yeldon is a nice player but he’s not an every-down guy or at least hasn’t proven that he can be. Jacksonville was so desperate that they signed washed-up Jamaal Charles off the street. Backup, Corey Grant, was also lost for the season earlier this year.
