Kirby Smart shares high praise for Branson Robinson's future

On3 imageby:Jonathan Wagner10/09/22

Jonathan Wagner

Entering Saturday’s game against Auburn, Georgia freshman running back Branson Robinson had just 14 carries on the season. After his performance in Week 6, Kirby Smart couldn’t help but rave about Robinson and his future in the Georgia offense.

In the Bulldogs’ 42-10 victory over the Tigers, Robinson rushed for 98 yards and a touchdown on 12 attempts, averaging 8.2 yards per rush. Each of those were career highs, and he ended the day as the game’s leading rusher.

After the breakout performance, Smart had nothing but praise for his young and talented tailback.

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“Branson, really big for us,” Smart said. “He was a guy we felt like all week we had to get more opportunities for him because he’s been running the ball really well in practice. He gives us a little bit of a burst and he was able to get some carries with Kendall [Milton] dinged up. I thought he did a really nice job.”

Robinson could find himself on the field more for Georgia as the season progresses

After his strong performance in Week 6, Robinson is up to 165 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries on the season. He is averaging 6.3 yards per carry, and also has a two-yard reception on the year.

Robinson currently sits in fourth on this Georgia team in rushing, trailing behind Daijun Edwards, Kendall Milton and Kenny McIntosh. But the Bulldogs have dealt with injuries in the room in the year, and the team traditionally uses multiple running backs over the course of a season. If Robinson can build off of his momentum this week, he will become hard to keep off the field.

Robinson came to Georgia as a four-star recruit as the No. 2-rated running back in the 2022 class, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was also the No. 73 player nationally and the top player out of Mississippi.

Earlier in the year, Kirby Smart talked about the need for Robinson’s skillset and how that fits into the current needs of Georgia’s offense. If Saturday’s game was any indication, he’s going to continue being worked into the offense each week.

“Branson, we’ve got to keep trying to bring him along and get him ready because he’s got a physical skill set that we need,” Smart said earlier in the year.