Georgia Bulldog backfield draws praise from Pro Football Focus
The Georgia Bulldog backfield is drawing praise already ahead of the 2023 campaign. Even with new faces set to take center stage at both quarterback and running back, Pro Football Focus has UGA ranked inside the top 10 for each position.
At quarterback, it’s Carson Beck expected to take the reins for Stetson Bennett who became the program’s first 4,000-yard passer in a single season last year. Acting as the backup last season to Bennett, Beck threw for 310 yards on 26-of-35 (74%) passing. He completed four touchdown passes including a pair in Georgia’s October 15th win versus Vanderbilt.
Beck and former five-star Brock Vandagriff battled for the starting job this spring. Beck came into the series of 15 spring practices as the favorite and got more first team reps as a result of his experience advantage. The battled played out in front of the public eye during the G-Day spring game when Beck impressed by completing 13 of 18 passes for 221 yards and a scare in the first half while working with the first team. Vandagriff on the other hand wasn’t quite as crisp in either his time with the first or second team.
No. 8 – Georgia must replace Stetson Bennett, who became the first starting quarterback since A.J. McCarron to win two national championships. Luckily for the back-to-back champs, they have a few options to replace him. Carson Beck was the backup last season and earned an impressive 87.0 passing grade on 39 dropbacks. Brock Vandagriff is entering his third season with the Bulldogs and was a five-star recruit in the 2021 class. The Bulldogs also have redshirt freshman Gunner Stockton, who was a top-10 quarterback recruit in the 2022 cycle.
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Meanwhile, at running back it’s Kenny McIntosh that must be replaced. He led the team in rushing yards and carries with 150 attempts for 829 yards – also adding in 504 yards receiving on 43 catches.
Lucky for Georgia, Daijun Edwards got 140 carries of his own, turning that into 769 yards and seven scores. Kendall Milton and Branson Robinson both topped the 50 carry mark averaging 6.5 and 5.7 carries per game they played in respectively.
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Injuries are a concern for each however with Milton suffered a hamstring setback that ended his spring early while Robinson was sidelined for the G-Day scrimmage and seen in a walking boot. Georgia has just five scholarship backs on its roster with two – Andrew Paul and Roderick Robinson – never having played a snap at the collegiate level yet, so depth is a bit of a concern. It’ll be important for everybody to stay healthy.
Still, even with the numbers not quite what you’d like, the talent is there, as demonstrated by the high ranking from PFF.
No. 4 – The first of two schools on this list that lost its leading rusher from a year ago, Georgia still has plenty of enticing alternatives at running back. Daijun Edwards had 24 carries that went for 10-plus yards in 2022, tied for ninth among SEC running backs. Kendall Milton averaged the fourth-most yards per attempt among Power Five backs with at least 85 carries (6.9 yards). Branson Robinson earned a 78.1 grade on 113 snaps in his true freshman campaign and was the No. 2 running back recruit in the 2022 class. The Bulldogs also bring in a top-10 running back recruit from the 2023 cycle in Roderick Robinson II.
Georgia is one of three schools with both backfield units being ranked in the top 10 according to PFF. The Bulldogs are joined by Ole Miss (No. 4 QB/No. 6 RB), who they play in November, and Oregon (No. 5/No. 8 RB).
