Browns welcome Kareem Hunt back to practice

The Cleveland Browns welcomed back running back Kareem Hunt to practice on Monday after Hunt was cleared by the NFL to rejoin the team while completing his suspension.

In March, Hunt was suspended for the first eight games of the season for a violation of the league’s personal conduct policy. Hunt was previously employed by the Kansas City Chiefs when a video of him surfaced showing him kicking and shoving a woman at the Metropolitan Hotel in Cleveland in February of 2018. The video went viral and Hunt was questioned about it by the Chiefs, and then subsequently released despite his evident athletic abilities.

Browns general manager John Dorsey signed Hunt in February of this year. In addition to his suspension, Hunt spent the past few month recovering from surgery to repair a sports hernia, and head coach Freddie Kitchens said that the running back will be a welcome spark to the team, according to clevelandbrowns.com:

“I think Kareem had a good spring, a good training camp. He went out with an injury in training camp so any reps he gets is good. For the most part, it is just good to have him back in the building, getting him back and continuing to support him in every way possible as a player and as a person. I thought he looked good. He looks like he is in good shape. He moved around good. It is always good to get good players back.”

While Hunt is allowed to practice with the team, he still has two more games to serve on his suspension, meaning he will miss this weeks road game against the New England Patriots (7-0) and the following game against the Denver Broncos (2-5). Hunt will be eligible to return to the game day roster against the much-improved Buffalo Bills (5-1-0) slated for November 10 at FirstEnergy Stadium.

Hunt. who is 5-foot-11 and 216 pounds, was a third-round selection of the Chiefs in the 2017 NFL Draft, and then lit up the league with his running style. He gained 1,327 yards on 272 carries with eight rushing touchdowns, a 4.9 average per carry, and started all 16 games as a rookie. He is also a very talented receiver and added 455 yards on 53 receptions, with an additional three scores.

For his efforts, he was named to the Pro Bowl (as a rookie), the NFL All-Rookie Team, and was unexpectedly the NFL rushing yards leader.

He played 11 games before being suspended by the Chiefs in 2018. For those contests, he had 824 rushing yards (a 4.6 yards-per-carry average) with seven touchdowns, 378 receiving yards and another seven scores.

If you do the math, that calculates to 25 touchdowns in 27 games. Hunt is also very durable, and had only one fumble in 453 rushing attempts and 79 pass receptions. He is also a very good blocker, something this year’s squad desperately needs.

Nick Chubb is still the starting running back for the Browns, but in today’s NFL you need two stable backs and in the case of the Browns, they will have two studs as Chubb is currently fourth in the league in rushing with 607 yards, is averaging 5.3 yards per carry has has six rushing touchdowns.