Athens—Richard Samuel has a reputation for being the ultimate team player for Georgia and deservedly so. Since arriving in Athens as a 17-year-old in 2008, he has been asked to change positions — and accepted those requests — three times because of depth issues.
As the page turns to the 2012 season, Samuel is coming to the rescue again. With the recent dismissal of tailback Isaiah Crowell, Samuel is being asked to pick up the slack at that position. Samuel had his mind set on playing fullback, but now he will work primarily at tailback.
"It's certainly going to change Richard Samuel's role I would think," Georgia coach Mark Richt said at SEC Football Media Days last week. "He was transitioning to at least a hybrid tailback/fullback for us. But I don't think he'll be getting an awful lot of time at fullback now. ... He'll spend most of his time at tailback."
That's OK with Samuel, though the 6-foot-2, 245-pound senior looked forward to playing fullback this fall.
"Now it looks like I'll be leaning more to tailback, which is fine," Samuel said. "But I hope I get some time at fullback. I don't want it to be like linebacker, where I prepared [to play] linebacker but never got to rep at it. So I'm just hoping I get a little mix of fullback in there."
Samuel often has been Georgia's answer since he signed with the Bulldogs in 2008. He came in as a five-star prospect who could play either running back or linebacker and his position in college was a hotly debated topic. Ultimately, the Bulldogs left it up to Samuel, and he chose running back.
It worked out initially. Samuel played in 11 games as a freshman back-up to All-SEC tailback Knowshon Moreno. He finished with 133 yards on 26 carries (5.1 average) and had 401 yards on kickoff returns.
Samuel took over as the starter in 2009 after Moreno left for the NFL, and he was impressive early on. He had an 80-yard touchdown run and finished with 104 yards at Arkansas in Game 3. But eventually he fell behind Caleb King and Washaun Ealey and lost the No. 1 spot by midseason.
The decision was made the next year to switch Samuel to defense, and he redshirted in order to acclimate to the new position. Samuel was sharing reps with Alec Ogletree at inside linebacker through spring practice and was looking forward to playing defense in 2011. But before the Bulldogs could get to preseason practice, Ealey was released from the program, King flunked out and Carlton Thomas was suspended for the opening game.
So the coaches again turned to Samuel and asked him if he would return to the offense. As has been his inclination, Samuel answered the call. He started three games at tailback, played in eight and for all practical purposes, won the Florida game for the Bulldogs when he rushed for 58 yards and scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter of the 24-20 victory. Unfortunately for Georgia, Samuel injured an ankle on the last play of the game. He had ankle surgery the next week and missed the next five games.
Heading into this season, Georgia seemed set at tailback with the return of Crowell, Ken Malcome and Brandon Harton and the additions of highly rated signees Keith Marshall and Todd Gurley. The Bulldogs also lost fullback Bruce Figgins to graduation. So Samuel was pretty happy about the coaches' decision to cross-train him at fullback with the idea of him primarily playing that position this fall.
"I like contact," Samuel said. "Fullback is close to linebacker to me, so I enjoy that as well. I enjoy the contact part of it."
Then came Crowell's exit, and Samuel finds himself back where he started.
"I've talked to [running backs coach Bryan] McClendon about it, and he says it'll be interchangeable," Samuel said. "He said I might be the fullback in the [shotgun] or we might have two tailbacks or whatever. It all depends on the plays that are called and the down and distance. We'll see."
Samuel was asked if he is ever frustrated by all the movement.
"I understand the need," Samuel said. "There are certain areas where we have needs and right now those are tailback and fullback. If it were a completely different position, that might be overkill. But I enjoy both positions I'll be playing."
Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, for one, is extremely thankful to have Samuel to turn to.
"Richard's going to do what's best for the football team," Bobo said. "I think if he stays healthy, he can be productive for us. He's a senior, and he knows we're counting on him."
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