Kirby Smart describes running back room as a ‘work in progress’
The bar has been set high at the running back position at Georgia, as year after year an effective run game has been a successful staple of the Bulldog’s offense.
The Bulldogs only lost one of their top rushers from last season in leading man Kenny McIntosh, but the injury bug has riddled the team’s running back room this offseason. And recently, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart was brutally honest about the state of the Bulldogs’ backfield.
“The running back position has been a work in progress,” Smart admitted. “We’re trying to get healthy guys, they’re going to get to play behind a really good offensive line, some good tight ends, and a quarterback that’s going to be able to help them. But we need to get production out of that position.”
Daijun Edwards had just 10 fewer carries than McIntosh last season, ending 2022 with 769 and seven touchdowns. But he’s been one of the few Georgia running backs to avoid injury this offseason, as others haven’t been so lucky.
The senior Kendall Milton who ranked third on the team in rushing last season with 592 yards on the ground and eight scores has been battling a hamstring injury throughout camp that’s resulted in him missing time. And the same applies to sophomore Branson Robinson, the team’s fourth leading rusher from a season ago who has been working his way back from a foot injury throughout fall camp.
There’s no doubt the Bulldogs’ backfield has talent, as well as a variety of running backs that can bring different skill sets to the table that add various dimensions to their offense. But the best ability is availability, and it will definitely be interesting to see which ballcarriers will be able to step up and perform behind newly named starting quarterback Carson Beck with the season just a couple of weeks away.
Kirby Smart discusses Carson Beck’s comfort level in Georgia offense
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart named Carson Beck as the team’s starting quarterback on Saturday as the Bulldogs have reached the home stretch of fall camp.
It’s no secret that Beck was the eldest in Georgia’s quarterback room and the front-runner to win the job as a result of his experience, but Smart recently detailed how Beck’s knowledge and level of comfort in the team’s offense was able to put him a step ahead.
“That’s the greatest separator of he and the other two quarterbacks is his comfort level with the offense, and when you have the extra spring, an extra fall that those two guys don’t have that rep volume is kind of the separator,” Smart explained. “I mean he’s had an ability to understand a little bit when the defense is doing this and we’re in this I need an answer, and he’s had the answers.”