Georgia Football: Should Kendall Milton get the start over Zamir White?

Kendall Milton has been really good in his limited role for Georgia football. Should that role be increased?

Kendall Milton is a true freshman running back for Georgia football. He is 6-2, 225 pounds, and was rated a four-star recruit by the 247Sports Composite coming out of Buchanan High School in Clovis California. Milton started the season fourth on the depth chart behind Zamir White, James Cook, and Kenny McIntosh.

In Milton’s limited carries he has amassed the second-most rushing yards on the team with 90. He is averaging six yards per carry and has shown explosiveness that the other running backs, outside of Cook don’t seem to have. Milton is also the only Georgia running back averaging over four yards after contact per attempt.

Milton has broken nine tackles in just 15 carries. His 60 percent broken tackle rate leads the team, no other running back is even close. McIntosh is second on the team with a rate of 38.75 percent. Milton is the most difficult Georgia running back to get to the ground. Giving him, even more, carries to exploit this could only improve Georgia football’s running game.

Not only is Milton excellent at avoiding tacklers and wracking up yardage after contact, but he also doesn’t have a single negative play. His 46.67 percent success rate is third on the team. However, that is behind Cook who has only played in one game, and White who has a 51.85 percent success rate. Milton is always pushing the ball forward, another great trait that Georgia should exploit more.

The only knocks on Milton’s game are his pass blocking and ball security, he is the only Georgia running back to fumble so far this season. Milton’s 27.9 pass-blocking grade second worst out of all of Georgia football’s running backs. Only McIntosh’s 22.1 is worse. However, this could be attributed to Milton’s inexperience.

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Milton’s run against Tennessee late in the third quarter where he avoided multiple tacklers is a great example of his hard-nosed running style, vision, and balance. Milton is the total package and will be Georgia football’s top running back one day. If things keep going the way they are, that day may be sooner rather than later and it will only make Georgia’s offense better.

As a team Georgia football’s running game is No. 35 in the nation averaging 172 yards a game on the ground. It is hard to imagine that giving the ball to Milton more would not increase this number and help the Bulldogs’ offense reach a new dynamic level. What they are doing now really isn’t working. Georgia is used to running the ball well enough to be in the top five, not just inside the top 40.

It is time for Kirby Smart and Todd Monken to take a strong look at what Milton would bring to the offense full-time. Smart has promised to let his best players play and in this case, it is just a matter of time before he cannot ignore that the best running back in the room may just be the true freshman that just signed last December.