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One stat that shows how important Nick Chubb is to Georgia football

Nick Chubb will need to have a big season for Georgia to meet expectations in 2017.
Steven Colquitt/UGA
Cy Brown
Cy Brown

Welcome to your one-stop shop for Georgia football news and takes every Monday through Friday. In this edition, we look at the position battle at nickel corner, a 2017 signee who won’t be joining the Dawgs, and a stat that shows just how important Nick Chubb is to Georgia’s success.

Is Georgia football better or just experienced?

The always excellent Bill Connelly of SB Nation finally got around to posting his preview of Georgia’s season on Wednesday. When you finish here, you should go read the entire post. It’s huge, full of interesting stats, but also kind of a downer. S&P+ isn’t favoring the Bulldogs as the season approaches, projecting just 7.4 wins for Georgia this season.

Connelly’s main argument against the Bulldogs is a sound one: Georgia has a ton of talent and can be a really good team if all the key players improve. If.

What happens if those players don’t improve as much as expected? What if Georgia is just a more experienced version of the 2016 team, but not a much better version? Bad things is what.

So with so small a margin for error, the Bulldogs will need major contributions from some of the most important players on the team. And Nick Chubb and the offensive line are the most important players for Georgia, as illustrated by this stat.

When Chubb averaged at least 6 yards per carry in a game, Georgia scored at least 28 points.

The bottom line for this season is that the Bulldogs have major boom-or-bust potential, and the scales will be weighted toward boom if Chubb has a resurgent 2017.

If Chubb is 2015 Chubb again, the offense is soaring, and the run defense is rendering everyone one-dimensional, Georgia will go 10-2 or better and make doubters like me feel silly.

But if 2017 Georgia looks like a more experienced version of 2016 Georgia, and Eason doesn’t develop that much, and Chubb never finds fifth gear, then 6-6 or 7-5 are on the table, and we feel silly for assuming greatness.

Devonte Wyatt won’t play for UGA this season

Recruiting class of 2017 signee Devonte Wyatt will not be joining Georgia this season. The defensive lineman couldn’t academically qualify, and instead will enroll at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College.

Wyatt’s failure to qualify ends any worries about the team going over the scholarship limit this year. DE Robert Beal’s clearance earlier this week put the team exactly at the 85 scholarship limit, according to Seth Emerson.

Next man up

Even without Wyatt, Georgia’s defensive line runs deep. But that still makes one less defensive lineman than the team was expecting to work with. Whether this is related to Wyatt’s failure to qualify or not, it’s still interesting to note that LB Chauncey Manac was working out with the linemen in practice on Wednesday, according to Seth Emerson.

Chauncey Manac continues to work with the defensive linemen, at least during the media viewing periods. Manac, a redshirt freshman, is thought to be on the two-deep at outside linebacker, so it’s not clear whether this is a position switch or just some cross-training. Edge rushers, after all, tend to work at both DE and OLB. For what it’s worth, it doesn’t appear that Manac has put on much weight.

Battling for the No. 1 spot

Competition for playing time in Georgia’s secondary will be fierce in fall camp, particularly at nickel corner. ESPN went so far as to name the battle for the starting nickel spot as UGA’s biggest position battle this preseason, and I don’t disagree.

The Bulldogs return 10 starters on defense but are still looking for a starting nickelback. The good news is that Georgia has the able bodies to fill that position before the first kickoff of the season. Leaving spring, sophomore Tyrique McGhee and freshman DeAngelo Gibbs appeared to lead the way at the position. Fifth-year senior Aaron Davis showed some flashes. All three improved their stock at the position this spring, but none of them has much experience there.

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Good dog

You’ll always be safe and secure inside a pillow fort.

NEXT Georgia’s Sony Michel at receiver? An intriguing storyline, but how real?
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