Well, that probably wasn’t what fantasy managers were hoping for when they set their lineups with Nick Chubb set to square off against the Houston Texans last week. The Cleveland Browns running back, coming off an overall RB3 finish the week prior, figured to become the latest player to gash a Texans defense that is fantasy’s friendliest unit when it comes to points allowed to the RB position (26.7 ppg).
But Sunday didn’t quite unfold that way. Though Chubb, fantasy’s RB4 on the season, did average 4.7 yards per carry against Houston, he was shut out of the end zone for just the fourth time this year, finishing with 8.0 points (RB32). Cleveland did all of its scoring on defense/special teams, generating one of the week’s best performances in fantasy — if not THE best.
[Week 14 Fantasy Rankings: QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | FLEX | DST | Kickers]
And while we know Chubb isn’t exactly a big source of receiving production, he was also denied a catch for just the third time all season, seeing just one target in Deshaun Watson‘s return from suspension. Chubb is obviously still plenty good, totaling 80 rushing yards on 17 carries in the Browns’ road win.
Our analysts have Chubb as the No. 5 running back in their latest positional rankings as the Browns prepare for an AFC North clash with the Cincinnati Bengals, who are one of the NFL’s hottest teams at the moment. Anybody is a tougher matchup than the Texans when it comes to RB points allowed, but the Bengals aren’t among the elite either (18th, 20.0 ppg).
Fantasy managers certainly hope for a repeat of these teams’ first meeting, when Chubb racked up 24.9 points (23 carries, 101 yards, two TDs) in a 32-13 Cleveland win on Halloween. But Cincinnati has been a much different team since that loss, reeling off four wins in a row.
Here’s the running back position — check out where Chubb and the rest of the RBs landed in our analysts’ rankings for Week 14:
2022 Fantasy Football Rankings powered by FantasyProsECR ™ – Expert Consensus Rankings