Kendall Milton injury latest setback to already thin running back room

ATHENS, Ga. — Reports coming out of the first week of Georgia fall camp indicate that running back Kendall Milton suffered some sort of a hamstring injury, and while the severity of it is still uncertain, it’s concerning nonetheless.

The Bulldogs have just five scholarship running backs on the roster. That includes Milton along with fellow senior Daijun Edwards, sophomore Branson Robinson, redshirt freshman Andrew Paul and true freshman Roderick Robinson. However, dive deeper into the situation and you can see why depth is worrisome.

We’ll start with the elder of the two Robinsons – who aren’t related. Branson suffered a foot injury in the final few days of spring practice and was forced to miss the G-Day scrimmage. Kirby Smart said at SEC Media Days that he would not be ready for the start of preseason practice, and while he did later on indicate that he was ahead of schedule, Robinson was not with the Bulldogs last time media got to take in action at practice on Thursday.

Robinson carried the ball 68 times for 330 yards and three touchdowns last season. His highest carry total came against Auburn with Georgia’s running back room a little bit banged up, rushing for a career-best 98 yards on 12 carries. Robinson found the end zone for the first time that day and added two more in the National Championship Game win over TCU, totaling seven carries late in the Bulldog blowout.

Then there’s Paul, Robinson’s classmate from just a year ago who continues to make his way back from a torn ACL. He suffered the injury in the second of Georgia’s preseason scrimmages last season and missed the entirety of his freshman campaign as a result.

Working out in a knee brace this spring, Paul went through drills with the running backs. He has since ditched the brace, and while Smart said that he was a “typical ACL guy” at SEC Media Days, he added that “there’s nothing that (he’s) seen that keeps (him) from believing (Paul) will be ready to go.”

That brings us to Milton, who’s battled injuries throughout his career. Just this spring he was shut down early with a hamstring injury, and he missed time last year for the same sort of problem. As a freshman and sophomore, Milton missed a combined 10 games due to injury before being sidelined for two last season.

When he’s been on the field though, Milton has been productive. He finished third on the team in touchdowns last season with eight, the most of any returning rusher, and averaged a team-high 69.96 yards per carry. Milton totaled 85 touches for 592 yards on the ground, plus another five for 64 and a score catching the ball out of the backfield, last season and has over 1,000 yards rushing on his career.

“I would say a big thing is being able to just go through the season and maintain my health,” Milton said at the start of spring practice. “I would say that’s kind of one of the biggest points of this offseason. I focused on rehabbing and things like that. I made that a high emphasis.”

Milton’s latest setback leaves just Edwards and the true freshman Robinson as the only running backs without any sort of pause for health concerns in a description of them. Edwards is Georgia’s leading returning rusher with 769 yards and seven scores on 140 carries last season, but the shortage on healthy bodies is the kind of thing that led walk-on Cash Jones to get a good number of reps this spring. He and fellow walk-on ball carriers Sevaughn Clark and Len’Neth Whitehead could get the same sort of treatment this fall.

“That’ll be the challenge. I think Andrew coming off the knee, where is he in terms of catching the ball, stamina, burst, acceleration; Branson, when can we get him back. Obviously Kendall and Daijun have the most experience,” Smart said in assessing the group to reporters on the first day of fall camp last week.

“A guy who had a great off-season and put up really good numbers in the weight room is Cash. Cash is maybe our fastest back. Pound for pound, he may be the strongest guy on the team. His unique ability is to catch the ball out of the backfield, but Daijun has got to be a guy that is consistent, stays healthy, durable and be kind of the — he and Kendall both be the leader of that group in terms of the way they work, catch the ball out of the backfield,” Smart continued. “I’m just excited to see all those guys work. I don’t know that we have a superstar in the room. We’ve got a group that by committee does a tremendous job, and they work really hard, and they put the team first. All those guys play on special teams, and they’ve been a huge help for our special teams unit.”

Media is expected to see a portion of practice on Tuesday where the running backs will certainly be under close observation. Georgia moves into its second week of preseason practice in full pads with its first scrimmage set for Saturday. The Bulldogs, ranked No. 1 in the Coaches Poll released on Monday, open the season at home on September 2nd against UT-Martin (6:00 p.m. ET, ESPN+/SECN+).