Spring football games aren't always a surefire indicator of what lies in store for college football fans, but it certainly gives fans a little a taste. G-Day provided fans with another opportunity to salivate on Saturday as the defending champions showed off their impressive offensive arsenal. DawgNation's Mike Griffith liked what he saw from the newest crop of running backs, in particular.
Running Back U has long resided in Athens, GA, and even though the Bulldogs are losing two talented running backs to the NFL Draft there is still plenty of talent in the backfield. And while Georgia was clearly more interested in seeing what they had from the backup quarterbacks instead of their lead running backs, Kenny McIntosh and Kendall Milton still found a way to show out.
The pair combined to rush for 44 yards on 12 carries and caught five passes for 80 yards and a touchdown for Team Black.
"I really liked Kenny McIntosh. He's as big as Zamir, but I feel like he's got really good vision. He's a cutback runner," Griffith told the Morning Show. "And not many guys can do a 180 with 220 pounds quite like Kenny can and his vision makes him a really dangerous runner. On top of all that, he's a really good pass-catcher I think he's as adept as Cook was, plus he's bigger and stronger."
McIntosh is expected to take the bulk of the carries in 2022 as the 1-A back and he is finally getting his opportunity to shine. He has rushed for 753 yards (5.79 yards per carry) and six touchdowns in a small sample size as the Dawgs' third back.
At the 1-B spot, Kendall Milton has also flashed some serious potential in limited action and he showed on Saturday why the staff is so excited about him.
After the game, Kirby Smart talked about what he expects from his backs, “We ask them to catch the ball out of that backfield and make plays. I thought Kenny caught a nice play on a wheel route, and so did Kendall. 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."
The depth of this group is excellent, but the potential is extremely high due to how flexible the play-calling can be regardless of who is taking snaps. Either of these two can be on the field with no drop-off across the board, whether that's pass-catching or rushing. That wasn't the case in 2021 with Cook and White as the lead backs.
The Dawgs were one of the more dangerous running back rooms in 2021, but they could be even better in 2022.
DawgNation's Mike Griffith joined the Morning Show to discuss what he liked from the Georgia Spring Game and he highlighted the incredible potential of the running back room
