When Cleveland squares off versus the Miami Dolphins next week, the Dolphins' newly-acquired Bradley Chubb will be attempting to tackle Nick Chubb of the Browns, the hottest running back in the NFL. The Dolphins gave up a first round draft pick for Chubb, and then signed him to a long-term deal. The Broncos badly needed a first round pick but also got stuck for $6 million of cap space in the form of underperforming running back Chase Edmonds.
Bradley will seek to resume his relationship with his cousin Nick. They first squared off in 2018 when the Browns beat the Broncos 17-16. However, he was on IR when the Broncos beat the Browns 24-19 in 2019, and neither Chubb played last season in a 17-14 Browns victory.
Bradley almost became a Cleveland Brown in 2018, the year they drafted Baker Mayfield. The Browns also owned the number four overall pick due to a trade with the Houston Texans, who had drafted Deshaun Watson the previous year (you cannot make this up!). The consensus view was that they should draft Bradley as the toughest defensive end out there, but instead, based largely on the advice of defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, they drafted Denzel Ward. That allowed Bradley to fall to the Denver Broncos. The truth is, the 2018 draft was extremely talented and it was hard to mess up no matter who you picked, unless you picked Josh Rosen.
In the second round the Browns finally drafted Nick with the 35th overall pick. That season began as a typical Haslam mess. Let's see, does the offensive coordinator work for the head coach, or does the head coach work for the offensive coordinator? Nobody was quite sure. Head coach Hue Jackson was stripped of play calling authority and was not smart enough to realize that offensive coordinator Todd Haley actually outranked him. Somehow, however, the dynamic duo had an ingenious idea to limit Nick to three touches per game in order to get maximum benefit from Carlos Hyde and Duke Johnson. Jackson and Haley wound up being fired mid-season. Lo and behold, Nick Chubb was the first string running back for the Cleveland Browns. Nick's Browns beat Bradley's Broncos that year, but Bradley had a great year, sacking the quarterback 12 times and hitting him 21 times. However, the Browns and Broncos have not hooked up again with both Chubbs healthy. Bradley was on IR when the two teams clashed in 2019. Then the teams did not play each other in 2020, and in 2021 both Bradley and Nick were injured. That was the game in which D'Ernest Johnson came up big and the Browns won with Case Keenum starting at quarterback, 17-14.
Now, with Bradley being traded to the Fearsome Fish of Miami, his new team will face the Browns next November 20. That brings us to Chubb versus Chubb Part 2. Chubbtown, Georgia may go insane. Who will they root for?
There really is a Chubbtown and it is a remarkable story. The Chubbs were a free family that can trace its origins to North Carolina in the 1740s. The definitive story of the Chubb family is contained in a book called The Chubbs: A Free Black Family's Journey from the Antebellum era to the mid 1900's, by Clemmie B. Whatley, PhD. It turns out that on occasion persons of African American origin were set free by their masters or were free by some other mechanism. There is documented proof that free "men of color" carrying the Chubb name fought in the Revolutionary War and were accomplished blacksmiths. Blacksmithing, or the ability to work iron, was the 1700s equivalent of heavy industry. Incidentally, massive strength and high dexterity are attributes that often accompany that trade, so perhaps it is not surprising that NFL football players might be descended from a family with an aptitude for metalworking. Whatley cites proof that Nicholas Chubb purchased 336 acres of land in North Carolina in 1816, establishing the family as landowners, which was a big deal at the time. Political problems in North Carolina may have caused a party of several families to move from North Carolina to Georgia in the mid-19th century in the 1830s. Chubbtown's founding is marked by the purchase of land in 1864 (at a much higher price than they had paid in North Carolina, incidentally).
The Chubbs operated a general store, a blacksmithing shop, owned a cotton gin, a distillery, sawmill, wagon company, and other businesses. They made their own money and were able to prosper. Hence the unincorporated village of Chubbtown was born.
Chubbtown prospered for several years, though a severe flood in 1916 destroyed much of their town. The Chubbs are known for their hard work, humility, and achievements. Those qualities describe both Nick and Bradley very well.
Miami needed a star of Bradley's magnitude on its defensive line to slow down the Cleveland Browns offense. The Dolphins have only 15 sacks through eight games, which is pathetic. Up front, they have two big tackles in 315 pound Christian Wilkins and Raekwon Davis, all six-foot-seven and 330 pounds of him. However, scuttlebutt from Pro Football Focus suggests that they may rotate in three defensive ends at times, with Wilkins or Davis taking a breather. Bradley weighs in at 275 pounds with Ingram at 247 pounds at the other side and Phillips at 263 pounds. That would give them a light, but mobile front four with one big man to plug up the middle.
This is one of the tricks Gregg Williams used when he was defensive coordinator for the Rams. He had three defensive ends that he liked, so he frequently used all three on the field at the same time, with only one nominal defensive tackle. It was not just the case of a defensive end playing defensive tackle, but rather an entirely different scheme incorporating different stunts on the line to use the additional mobility to make up for the lack of beef. Maybe the Browns should consider something like that, because only Taven Bryan is performing at an NFL level right now.
Up to this point, the Dolphins have the 26th ranked pass defense in terms of yards per game with 262.2. They are sixth-best versus the run with 100.6 yards per game. They give up 4.2 yards per carry. Those are very respectable numbers. If you believe their biggest problem is giving the quarterback too much time to throw, Bradley is going to help that. Hello, Jed Wills. Your work is going to be cut out for you.
The matchup in week 10 is more than Miami versus Cleveland, fish versus elf, South Coast versus North Coast. It's a battle for Chubbtown bragging rights. It does not get any bigger than this in Chubbtown, Georgia.
Perhaps Cleveland should be considered to be Chubbtown North. This is his town, and the Browns are his team. In time, Miami might become Chubbtown South. Two cousins from a historic family have the opportunity to make history in the NFL.
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