Brant Sanderlin/AJC
Georgia RB Nick Chubb

Where does Nick Chubb rank among SEC running backs?

Posted 2 years ago

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How many SEC backs are better than Georgia’s No. 1 RB?

Over at Athlon Sports, Steven Lassan ranked the top 25 players in the SEC heading into spring practice. Georgia had just a couple of honorees, Trent Thompson (18) and Nick Chubb (12), as well as Roquan Smith named as an honorable mention. Alabama defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick took the No. 1 spot on the list.

But what I’m more interested in is Lassan’s ranking of running backs. He has seven running backs on his list. Chubb comes in at No. 12, with three other tailbacks ranked ahead of him. The SEC is undoubtedly loaded at the position, but I haven’t thought much about where Chubb stands in regard to the other guys in the conference. So, I figured I’d look at it right now, just based on the RBs Lassan named in his top 25 players to keep things simple.

Rank	Name	School	2016 Yards	2016 TDs	2016 YPC	Career Yards	Career TDs	Career YPC
3	Derrius Guice,	LSU	1,387	15	7.6	1,823	18	7.8
10	Kamryn Pettway	AUB	1,224	7	5.9	1,224	7	5.9
11	Rawleigh Williams III	ARK	1,360	12	5.6	1,614	13	5.4
12	Nick Chubb	UGA	1,130	8	5.0	3,424	27	6.4
16	Bo Scarbrough	BAMA	812	11	6.5	916	12	6.4
19	Ralph Webb	VANDY	1,258	13	5.1	3,347	22	4.5
25	Trayveon Williams	TAMU	1,057	8	6.8	1.057	8	6.8

If we’re going strictly by the “What have you done for me lately?” protocol, the best tailback in the SEC is clearly LSU’s Derrius Guice. He scored more touchdowns and ran for more yards than any other running back in the league in 2016 — MSU QB Nick Fitzgerald is a different story — and torched the competition in yards per carry. Just look at this dude go.

But I don’t think you can put Chubb behind anyone but Guice. I understand the argument for putting him in fourth: He had a down year last season, probably because of the injury sustained in 2015, and we don’t if he’ll ever be back to the Nick Chubb we saw his freshman and sophomore years. The way he came on in spots last season, though, especially in the Liberty Bowl win against TCU, provided glimpses of that old self. And if that player is still in there, he’s not only the best back in the SEC, he’s probably the best in the country.

I don’t really have many problems with the list in terms of RBs, though. It’s definitely forward-looking, and we’d see some shift if it was based on accomplishment, such as moving Ralph Webb up or including Sony Michel. Since it is forward-looking, though, I’d probably bump Trayveon Williams over Ralph Webb — although I think Webb is fantastic — and find some space for UK’s Benny Snell. Here’s who I expect to be the top SEC RBs in 2017, based on projection more than history. Let me know in the comments section where you agree and disagree.

Darrius Guice
Nick Chubb
Bo Scarbrough
Kamryn Pettway
Trayveon Williams
Benny Snell
Rawleigh Williams III
Sony Michel
Ralph Webb

Gymdogs get poor regional draw

Georgia gymnastics can’t consider itself lucky after the draw it received for the NCAA Gymnastics Championships. The Gymdogs will travel to Gainesville, Fla., where they’ll have to face the Florida Gators, along with five other teams, in a bid to advance beyond the regionals to the next round.

We're going to Gainesville! Here's our full regional field, full release coming shortly! #AsOne pic.twitter.com/jdWnB9vile

— Georgia Gymdogs (@UGAGymnastics) March 20, 2017

I won’t pretend to be well-versed on the ins and outs of college gymnastics. I leave that to Vineyard Dawg at Dawg Sports, who always writes clearly and intelligently about the Gymdogs so a guy like me can follow along. Regionals don’t begin until April 2, but you can go ahead and read Vineyard Dawg’s preview here.

Georgia baseball back again after devastating weekend

There is not much going for Georgia baseball at the moment. The Diamond Dogs lost three games to LSU this past weekend, including an unholy 22-9 beatdown in the series opener. They’ll get a chance to begin to right the ship — at least as much as you can in one game as a team with an 8-13 record — on Tuesday against Kennesaw State. The Owls already beat Georgia once this season, a 5-4 game at Foley Field. So, the Dawgs have the added disadvantage of playing on the road on top of low confidence from a terrible road trip from last weekend.

Starting pitching has been a problem for much of the season, with Georgia getting in holes it can never get out of with the bullpen. Reliever Zac Kristofak will get the starting nod, which would seem to indicate that coach Scott Stricklin will rely on his bullpen early and throughout the contest. It won’t solve any of those problems on the mound, but it could serve to help get a win and pull back the smallest modicum of confidence, something this team needs badly.

First pitch is at 5 p.m. Tuesday in Kennesaw, and the game can be streamed right here.