Nick Chubb

Chubb entered last season as a Heisman Hopeful after Todd Gurley left for the NFL and he certainly played to that level through the first month of the season before suffering a devastating knee injury on Oct. 10 at Tennessee. Prior to the injury, Chubb had averaged 8.28 yards per carry to go with seven touchdowns. However unfortunate, the severity of Chubb’s injury simply cannot be ignored. The offseason injury to Sony Michel could add more pressure on Chubb to get back on the field, but a knee injury of that extent cannot be handled recklessly by the coaching staff, even if Georgia is shallow in terms of proven RB talent behind Chubb and Michel. With that in mind, Georgia is unlikely to give Chubb the bellcow-esque workload this season--especially in the first few weeks. While Chubb may make a full recovery eventually, there’s no word at press time as to when he’ll even be cleared for tackling drills--let alone game action. When healthy Chubb is arguably the best there is, but it will be hard to know from afar when he might reach that point.

Todd Gurley went 10th overall in this year's NFL Draft -- with an injured knee -- and Chubb might be even better. At 5-foot-10, 220, Chubb is a freak athlete and an impeccable running-back specimen with bruising power, breakaway speed and significant upside as a receiver. Chubb was thrust into a workhorse role last year due to Gurley's suspension and then injury, finishing his true freshman season with 1,547 yards (7.1 YPC) and 14 touchdowns on just 219 carries. He added 18 receptions for 213 yards and two scores. With Gurley gone, Chubb will have an even bigger workload to himself, and Georgia returns four starting offensive linemen.