Georgia football: Predicting the year the running backs will have in 2018

KNOXVILLE, TN – SEPTEMBER 30: D’Andre Swift (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

Georgia football has five highly capable backs for the 2018 season. Who’ll have the best season? How often will each get used? How will Georgia use each of them differently?

Nick Chubb and Sony Michel may be moving on to the NFL, but Georgia football is still wealthy with talent at running back. That’s thanks to four backs who were four-star recruits in high school.

Elijah Holyfield is the oldest of the four-star backs. He committed to Georgia in 2015 when Mark Richt was head coach and he remained committed after Kirby Smart took the job. He’s yet to have his breakout year, but he looked good as a solid fourth running back in 2017.

D’Andre Swift was the first big time running back to commit to Smart in 2016 and he signed with the Bulldog’s no. 3 class in 2017. A commitment by a five-star running back last summer overshadowed the hype around Swift. But that didn’t last. Swift ended the 2017 with almost 800 yards of total offense. That’s a ton of yards for a third-string running back.

The player who overshadowed Swift when he committed was Zamir White, the no. 1 running back in the 2018 class. But White tore his ACL late in his senior high school season. It’s unclear how healthy he’ll be for the beginning of the 2018 season. But he certainly has the talent to be the next great Georgia running back.

White wasn’t alone in the 2018 class though. James Cook, the no. 3 running back in the country also signed. And he’ll be healthy and ready for the beginning of this season. Cook is a completely different kind of running back from White and Swift. Meaning Georgia’s running game will continue being tough to game plan for.

Lastly is Brian Herrien, the late addition to the 2016 recruiting class. He wasn’t as highly sought after coming out of high school, but he’s had a decent career thus far. With Chubb and Michel gone, expect Herrien to make the most of his new opportunities.

Those are the five backs in Georgia’s stable,now what kind of season will each of them have in 2018? We’ll look at each back one-by-one, try to determine how the coaches will use them, and predict their stats for this upcoming season.

D’Andre Swift

We’ll start with Georgia’s only established star at running back. Swift ended 2017 with 618 rushing yards and 153 receiving yards with four total touchdowns. Again, those are great numbers for a third-string back.

Logically, we should expect a huge season from Swift who has the speed to live up to his last name. But don’t get fooled by his name. He is a total package. He showed the ability to be a power back at times last year. In Georgia’s strength and conditioning program, he’s going to get stronger and keep his speed.

As for his role on the team, he’ll find playing time everywhere. He’ll likely start most games at tail-back. He’ll also continue to line-up at wing-back in those formations. I also expect to see him line-up as a slot receiver some this year and take over the Wild Dawg spot.

900 rushing yards, 300 receiving yards, 13 total touchdowns

James Cook

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With White injured right now, I expect Cook to have the better freshman season. He’s right now listed at 5’11, 181. Right around his brother Dalvin Cook’s size. He also plays like his brother, so if you’re familiar with Dalvin, you know what you’re going to get from James.

He’s a slasher. He doesn’t need the offensive line to open up a huge hole. If there’s daylight and a blocker in the second level, Cook will hurt the defense. Like Dalvin, James will also likely be a fixture in the passing game. In his three seasons at Florida State, Dalvin Cook had 935 receiving yards. 488 of those yards came in his last season.

So I expect Georgia to use Cook as a receiver and a wing back more often than the other backs. Cook at the wing with Swift or White in the backfield already sounds like a fun formation to watch. Cook will also get plenty of hand-offs from the tail back position. With the amount of way’s he’ll get the ball each game. Expect a thousand yards freshman year for Cook.

750 rushing yards, 350 receiving yards, 8 total touchdowns

Zamir White

With White’s ACL injury, I don’t expect him to play early, and Georgia will probably use him sparingly for a few weeks. But after about half a season, the coaches will remove the leash and let White do what he came to Athens to do; tear up defenses.

He’ll probably sit for most of the first month of action. But when Georgia travels to LSU on October 13, coaches will likely include him in the game plan more because the Dawgs are going to need all the help they can get that week. After an off week and starting with the Florida game White will begin to see a lot more playing time.

He’s not as dynamic as Swift or Cook, but he’s a punishing running back like Chubb was. He’ll line-up as a tail back exclusively and most of his touches will be hand offs.

400 rushing yards, 100 receiving yards, 4 total touchdowns

Elijah Holyfield

2018 may finally be Holyfield’s time to shine. Georgia rarely used him as a freshman in 2016, and he was the fourth quarter back in 2017. Now as a junior, the former four-star will hope to begin living up to the hype.

And while I don’t expect his stats to be phenomenal, I believe he’ll see a lot of playing time and put up solid numbers. Like Swift and Cook, he’ll probably get used all over the field. But I see tail back and wing back as the spots he’ll play most often. But I don’t expect Georgia to use him in the passing game as much as them.

500 rushing yards, 100 receiving yards, 5 total touchdowns

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Brian Herrien

Lastly is Herrien who I expect to see play as a receiver as much as a runner. Out of the five running backs, he’ll get used deep in the backfield the least and will instead play mostly at the wing and as a slot receiver. Georgia’s going to need to find more help for Fromm in the passing game and I believe Herrien is in their plan for doing so.

300 rushing yards, 300 receiving yards, 4 total touchdowns

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