The Cleveland Browns have long felt as though they had a special weapon fall into their laps when the Kansas City Chiefs cut Kareem Hunt last year. After the running back sat out following an incident involving a video recording of him hitting a woman, Cleveland felt he had paid enough of a penance and had been out of the game long enough.

So far, it appears that Hunt has rewarded the Browns with their faith in him by working to make sure that he stays out of trouble. He even went and had himself baptized this spring, as a kind of way to start over and live the kind of life people would like to see from him.

All that work appears to have been good for his outlook on life, all that work is sure to pay off, but there are at least a few experts who believe all that work is going to lead to not a lot of production on the field. ESPN's latest fantasy projections show a Kareem Hunt who has a decidedly smaller impact on the team than he has in years past with the Chiefs.

Cleveland Browns' Chubb hogging the carries

After a half season in 2018 saw Kareem Hunt bust out for more than 800 yards and 4.6 YPC, it appears that his new team just isn't going to have the carries for him, according to ESPN.

The sports giant predicts he'll be limited to just 59 carries for the entire season. He will make the most of those carries, as he'll average 4.5 yards per carry and run for 267 yards and two touchdowns.

He's also projected to be catching 10 passes for just over 100 yards.

The reason for the lack of carries is his teammate, Nick Chubb. While Hunt isn't projected to have much of a season, Chubb is looking like he could be a fantasy football stud. After carrying 192 times for 996 yards and eight touchdowns, ESPN projects the back will be carrying 249 times for 1,149 yards and eight touchdowns.

He's also projected to catch 30 passes for 243 yards.

Dontrell Hilliard could add a wrinkle

Adding to Kareem Hunt's challenges is that it appears the second year running back Dontrell Hilliard has been putting together kind of spring so far, that could get him quite a few carries moving forward. Hilliard didn't have a fantastic rookie season but the Cleveland Browns coaches appear to really like what they've seen from him so far in workouts and OTAs.

Last year, the back didn't have a carry, but he did catch nine passes for 105 yards. It's possible he could be seeing his role with the team growing in the coming season. That's good news for a team that is wanting to have as many weapons as it possibly can. It's less great news for Kareem Hunt, who thought he might be coming to a Cleveland Browns team that would be able to give him the kind of carries that would allow him to truly resurrect his career in a new town.
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