Nate Frazier was a little surprised when Trevor Etienne elected to declare for the NFL draft.
He, like many Georgia fans, assumed Etienne would be returning for another season at Georgia.
Instead, Etienne is off to the NFL and Frazier is now tasked with leading a very green running back room.
“When Trevor decided to clear out, I was like, Oh my God,” Frazier told reporters on Tuesday. “But it just meant I just had to step up to the plate. And really just, yeah, that’s really it. Just step up, work. But wasn’t really affected by it at all. It didn’t really change anything. Just, yeah really hate that he left. That’s my guy.”
Frazier actually led Georgia in rushing last season, finishing the year with 671 rushing yards and 8 touchdowns.
He’ll have to build on that this season. While he’s one of the most exciting players on the team, Frazier is far from a finished product.
“I’m just trying to grow in every process and just try to build a great relationship with all my teammates and all the new people that’s here,” Frazier said. “Just like you said, it’s my first spring here, so I’m just trying to just grow and grow with the team and just everybody just vibe and get into stuff like that.”
If there’s an obvious area that Frazier can improve, it comes with ball security. Fumbling was a consistent issue for the California running back.
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart has previously praised Frazier for how he grew as a pass blocker as a freshman. The hope it that he can do the same when it comes to his fumbling issues.
“I’m appreciative of everything that happened for the snaps. I just remain humble and just continue to work,” Frazier said. “I know there were a lot of areas that I needed to grow in, so me personally, I wasn’t upset at all. I just knew I just need to work harder and just grow and just get better at anything I possibly could. So it didn’t make me mad at all. I just put my head down to work.”
As talented as Frazier is, Georgia knows it can’t just rely on him to carry the load. Smart’s teams have almost always employed a rotation at running back and that won’t be any different this season.
This spring, Georgia is without Branson Robinson and Roderick Robinson, as the former recovers from a knee injury and the former is recovering from ankle surgery.
Georgia does bring back Cash Jones, who was a key third-down running back for the Bulldogs last season.
They added freshman Bo Walker as well, who has quickly established himself in the running back room.
“Bo’s doing a nice job,” Smart said. “Bo’s very bright. He’s had some really good runs. He’s had some mistakes. And what I like about Bo is he’s very teachable. He’s very coachable. And he’s got natural rush instincts.”
Georgia’s offense has come under plenty of criticism this offseason for how it played during the 2024 season. Frazier was one of the few bright spots, whether it be his touchdown against Florida or his game-winning rush against Georgia Tech.
Those were nice moments for the freshman running back. In 2025, he knows he’s got to do a better job of maintaining the Georgia standard on a practice-by-practice basis.
