Branson Robinson making a move in banged-up Georgia backfield
ATHENS, Ga. — The injury bug has bitten the Georgia running back room this spring but as is so often the case, players missing time creates opportunities for others. In Saturday’s scrimmage, the Bulldogs first of the spring, it meant quite a few carries for Branson Robinson and Roderick Robinson.
Those are UGA’s only two fully-healthy ball carriers at the moment as Kendall Milton will miss the rest of spring with a hamstring injury, Daijun Edwards is limited with the same injury, and Andrew Paul is working his way back from a torn ACL suffered last preseason camp.
Roderick Robinson, a true freshman, has generated a lot of buzz but that’s typical for a really talented newcomer. Branson Robinson, however, seems to have caught Kirby Smart’s eye.
“He’s working, he got his share of carries today,” Smart said of Branson Robinson. “I thought he looked quick and powerful; he broke some tackles like you would expect. He could’ve easily played more last year but we had guys that were capable and in front of him, the biggest learning curve is pass protection. The biggest jump they have to make from year one to year two is, can we count on you in pass protection, and can you protect the ball if we’re giving you the ball as a back. He’s shown that he has the intelligence and toughness to do that.”
We all saw the flashes from Branson Robinson a season ago. He finished the season with 68 carries for 330 yards and three touchdowns, but he had one of the Bulldogs best rushing performances of the season in week six vs. Auburn. With Kenny McIntosh limited and Milton getting hurt early in the game, Branson Robinson got 12 carries and picked up 98 yards and a touchdown on the day.
Most of his other carries came in mop-up action when Georgia was trying to run clock. Teams were worn down but they were also loading the box because they knew the Bulldogs were working to salt the game away.
But the Mississippi native left UGA fans with a good taste in their mouth to end the 2022 season. He ripped off a pair of touchdown runs against TCU in the National Championship game, breaking tackles and making guys miss along the way.
Now nine practices in to his first spring with the team, Branson Robinson is the elder statesman when it comes to healthy UGA tailbacks. Injuries have mounted in order to make that happen but he’s helping the Bulldogs make do.
“I don’t think we lost anybody today,” Smart said after the scrimmage. “We had a couple guys that weren’t able to scrimmage today, but we didn’t lose anybody within the scrimmage. Daijun Edwards has been dealing with a hamstring, so he’s been in-and-out. He’s hitting some good miles per hour, I think Daijun’s really close.
“Maybe could have pushed over the edge today to go to give us some more depth at back but we didn’t do that with the hopes that two days off, Sunday, Monday, we’ll have him ready to go Tuesday. Obviously, Kendall Milton’s injury, he’s out but Branson Robinson did a good job. I think we ended up getting about 10 carries for Branson and about 10 carries for Roderick Robinson, which is a lot for us in a scrimmage. The guys that haven’t played in games in the fall, we try to get them 10-12 a scrimmage. The guys who have played a lot in games, we try to get them 4-5 a scrimmage. Those guys did a nice job.
“Sevaughn Clark did a good job, as you know Cash Jones has been working at that position, he does a really good job. We’ve got a couple guys, Joseph Daniels and Miles Thornton, who moved there from DB and receiver who’ve actually been a blessing for us. Two walk-ons, one was a wideout, one was a DB, who’ve done a really good job.”
