Could Georgia have two 1,000-yard rushers again this season? Kirby Smart thinks so.
“Yeah,” the Bulldogs’ fourth-year coach said, “in a perfect world.”
Perfect has become the norm of late. The Bulldogs fielded two 1,000-yard rushers in each if the past two seasons, with Nick Chubb and Sony Michel each topping the mark in 2017 followed by Elijah Holyfield and D’Andre Swift last season.
Including Chubb and Michel and 2014 and ’15, Georgia has produced at least one 1,000-yard rusher in each of the past five seasons, with seven players in that span.
But this year is particularly interesting for the Bulldogs. First, while there appears to be plenty of talent at running back as usual, Swift is the only proven back who has produced over an entire season. And even then, injury issues slowed him and took him out of the mix for a short while.
Also, there’s the question of exactly what Georgia’s offense might look like in its first year under offensive coordinator James Coley. Reports are that the Bulldogs are tossing the ball around a bit more.
And, finally, there are a lot of backs Georgia is going to want to get a look at. So while there is the experience of Swift and senior Brian Herrien at the top of the depth chart, what about the vastly improved James Cook? What about the new addition of Kenny McIntosh. And, then, of course, there's the most talked-about back since, well, since the previous 5-star backs showed up – Zamir White.
Just trying to get a fair sampling from all five backs could derail the quest for another 1,000-yarder, never mind two. Of course, that’s not the ultimate goal.
Smart said the Bulldogs are more concerned about running the ball effectively than who’s running.
“I want success for each one of those players,” he said. “If each one of those backs has success, could you end up where nobody gets 1,000? … It could.”
Smart said having three or four backs fall just short of 1,000 yards actually might be the best-case scenario.
“But we don't know how it's going to play out because we don't know the health of (players) or how it's going to go,” he said. “A defense dictates sometimes what we do offensively because we check to certain things, so you can't control it. (But) I'd love to have two 1,000-yard rushers again because I think it helps you recruit. … But I'm not past playing four backs.”
If Georgia does have two 1,000-yard rushers again, handicapping which two it might be is a tough guess. Swift and Herrien have been running with the No. 1 offense the most, but the sophomore Cook has been getting a lot of attempts in practice and is the featured back in several special packages.
Of Cook, Smart said, “he’s much more consistent with his ability to break tackles and make runs and he's had an opportunity to show that. I feel like James has had a really good camp."
But there’s been more buzz about White than anybody. Earlier this week, junior tackle Isaiah Wilson raved about of the 220-pound freshman. “I wouldn’t want to be the safety that has to tackle No. 3,” he said.
Odds are very good there will be more than 2,000 yards rushing. Georgia has gone well over 3,000 yards each of the past two seasons and hasn’t had less than 2,000 since 2010. How the yards are distributed is the mystery that awaits.
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