Kirby Smart weighs in on Georgia running back stable after spring football
Kirby Smart was impressed with his running back room during spring football, and that bodes well for Georgia heading into the title defense.
After some of the most talented athletes in their running back room took their talents to the NFL, many wondered if the Bulldogs could replace the immense production players like James Cook and Zamir White provided. Luckily, Smart is seeing what he wants out of his ball carriers thus far as his team prepares for the 2022 season.
“Catching the ball out of the backfield. We ask them to catch the ball out of that backfield and make plays,” started Smart. “I thought Kenny [McIntosh] caught a nice play on a wheel route, so did Kendall [Milton]. Those guys — in college football you become a weapon by how you receive the ball out of the backfield. They want to grow with that. They want to be able to showcase their talents catching the ball out of the backfield. That’s what the NFL asks about. Can he catch the ball out of the backfield? Can he be a 3rd down back?
“Well, we like to grow NFL backs here, so to do that you’ve got to use them in the passing game, and I thought that Kenny, Kendall all those guys, Daijun [Edwards], [Sevaughn] Clark did a nice job. We didn’t always hit them efficiently. We missed some wide open backs, but I thought that those backs did a nice job.”
Georgia will have a target on their back all season long, and Kirby Smart will need his stable of running backs to show their immense abilities week in and week out. It looks like the Bulldogs will be in good hands on that front, regardless of the talent they lost.
Stetson Bennett evaluates the Georgia offense following spring football
The Georgia Bulldogs are already gearing up to defend their college football national championship. And after their spring game, starting quarterback Stetson Bennett provided his evaluation of the Georgia offense following the close of their spring.
“Well, I feel really good,” said Bennett. “I feel like we gelled, we use spring for what it was, and I feel like we got a long way to go over summer.”
Bennett and the black team scored a 26-23 victory over the red team in the Bulldogs annual spring game, G-day. Georgia appeared to have put an emphasis on their passing attack in the scrimmage, throwing the ball 91 times compared to the 33 rush attempts on the day. Of the 91 attempts, 42 were completed, along with two interceptions.
For the game, Bennett finished with 273 passing yards, completed 15 of his 35 attempts, and threw three touchdowns. The Bulldogs projected starting quarterback also threw the only two interceptions of the scrimmage.
If the Bulldogs are to successfully defend their national championship from the likes of Alabama and the rest of the SEC, they will need to develop more chemistry and consistency on the offensive end. Not only that, but the Bulldogs defense will need to make sure that they replace the plethora of defensive talent they last in the 2022 NFL Draft.
If Georgia can complete both of those tasks, then fans of the team will likely be celebrating back-to-back championships come next January.