Nick Chubb is one of the best Georgia Bulldogs running backs of all time. The 5-foot-10, 225-pound RB ran with a great blend of speed and physicality. It earned him a remarkable college and NFL career.
Chubb ran for 4,769 yards, which is second among all Georgia running backs to just Herschel Walker (5,259). His 44 touchdowns are also second to Herschel Walker, and he could’ve been the team leader had he not suffered a grotesque knee injury in the 2015 season. Unfortunately, despite all of this, he is ineligible for the College Football Hall of Fame.
To be considered for the College Football Hall of Fame, you must be out of collegiate football for 10 years, must have played within the last 50 years, and must be retired from professional football. Chubb obviously doesn’t have all these boxes checked, but in time, he would.
Unfortunately, the ballot requires a player to make an All-American first-team, and Chubb somehow never made one. Second-team All-American status doesn’t satisfy the requirement, and neither does first-team All-SEC, which Chubb earned in 2014.
During Chubb’s 2014 season, when he ran for 1,547 yards and an SEC-leading 14 touchdowns on 219 carries, he was beat out by Indiana RB Tevin Coleman (270-2,036-15), Wisconsin RB Melvin Gordon (343-2,587-29), and Pitt RB James Conner (298-1,765-26). Coleman and Gordon were unanimous All-Americans.
He set career-highs in his freshman season, but in his senior season (2017), he ran for 1,345 yards and 15 touchdowns on 223 attempts. Unfortunately, Penn State running back Saquon Barkley (217-1,271-18), Stanford running back Bryce Love (263-2,118-19), and San Diego State running back Rashaad Penny (289-2,248-23) won the All-American slots.
Penny and Love were consensus All-Americans, with Love being a unanimous selection. Overall, 2017 was probably Chubb’s best season to earn All-American, since he was better than Barkley this season.
In 2016, he rushed for 1,130 yards and eight touchdowns on 224 carries. This time, it was Florida State’s Dalvin Cook (288-1,765-19), San Diego State’s Donnell Pumphrey (349-2,133-17), and Texas’ D’Onta Foreman (323-2,028-15) who won the awards.
What stings even more is that Chubb was putting up stats like these with other premier backs. Todd Gurley earned 911 yards in 2014, and Sony Michel led the team in rushing yards (1,161) in 2015. In 2017, both of them had over 1,000 rushing yards, becoming the first Georgia duo to rush for 1,000 each.
Georgia has been blessed with great running backs for a while. Unfortunately, no running back has been an All-American since Garrison Hearst in 1992. As a result, there are several great Georgia halfbacks not eligible for the Hall of Fame, and Chubb is just another one of them.
It’s easy to imagine Chubb as a running back at the College Football Hall of Fame, and he absolutely looked the part. Unfortunately, Georgia’s own riches at running back, plus a box that he couldn’t check, will prevent him.
Follow UGA Wire on Instagram, Facebook, X or Threads for more Georgia football recruiting coverage!
This article originally appeared on UGA Wire: Why Nick Chubb cannot make College Football Hall of Fame
