Kirby Smart shares how Branson Robinson injury impacts Georgia's offense

The Georgia Bulldogs received some unfortunate news surrounding running back Branson Robinson. On Wednesday, it was announced that Robinson would miss the entirety of the 2023 season after rupturing his patellar tendon during fall camp. Shortly after the announcement was made, Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart shared how the injury to his star running back would impact Georgia’s offense and their run-to-pass ratio.

“No, it’s not going to affect our run-to-pass ratio. We have capable backs. He was one of our better backs,” said Smart. “And when healthy last year, we think he was kind of coming into his own; he was learning how to pass protect.

“He had a really good spring while he was going. So we were really excited about where he was headed. He was explosive, twitchy, (and) could do some things in pass pro and running the ball that maybe some of the other guys couldn’t do. But we’re not gonna have that luxury.”

Robinson’s injury does not completely derail Georgia’s offensive plans for 2023, but it will undoubtedly make things more challenging for the team. Still, Georgia has a number of options at running back who they can rely on, according to Smart. But the Bulldogs could ill afford to suffer another injury in their running back room.

“We have other guys that can do it. I don’t think it changes, philosophically, when you got Kendall Milton, Daijun Edwards, Cash (Jones), and Andrew Paul, who’s had a good camp, and then Rob (Roderick Robinson). I mean, we’ve got capable backs there, and we’ve got people around them to get the ball to. I don’t see that changing who we are offensively.”

More on Robinson

Robinson was a highly rated recruit out of Germantown high school in Madison, Mississippi, rated the No. 2 running back in the country and the No. 73 overall prospect in the 2022 class according to On3’s Industry Rankings.

Robinson made the most of his limited carries last season, rushing for 330 yards and three touchdowns on just 68 carries. 

Versus Auburn last season he made a splash, rushing for 98 yards and a touchdown on a career high 12 carries. And in Georgia’s national championship blowout win over TCU, Robinson found the end zone twice, rushing for two touchdowns along with his 42 yards on the ground.

Unfortunately, Georgia fans will have to wait for Branson Robinson to get back on the field, as his 2023 season is over before it ever got a chance to begin.

On3’s Kaiden Smith and Steve Samra contributed to this article.