Considering all the hype D’Andre Swift has received this offseason, you may not realize Georgia’s junior running back has never carried the ball more than 17 times in a single game during his Bulldog career.

In fact, of the 29 games in his college career, Swift has only reached double-digit carries 10 times.

Some of that has been by design, much of that has to do with the fact Georgia’s backfield has been so deep in recent seasons, but whether or not Swift can carry the load for the Bulldogs if need be does remain an unanswered question in Athens heading into the season — at least, for some.

While some may be questioning Swift’s durability on the field, don’t count Kirby Smart among them. During his most recent media availability, Smart pointed to the fact that the days of asking a running back to carry the load on offense are long gone.

“He’s been in the backfield with some good players. We obviously know his freshman year (with Nick Chubb and Sony Michel) and we know last year with the guys we had in the backfield with him really two, three guys, there may not be an opportunity for one guy to get 25-30 carries,” Smart said of Swift. “The game is not built like it used to be for guys to carry that. The people hitting these guys are bigger, faster, stronger. There are a lot more licks. Just may not happen that way.”

Georgia’s coach isn’t making any excuses for Swift, however, as he noted that if Swift needs to carry the load for the offense next season, the junior can handle that challenge.

“I know that should it be that way, that he has to carry the ball 25 times a game to way to win, I have no doubt that D’Andre Swift can do that,” Smart continued. “It all goes back to is that necessary? You do what you have to do to win. Sometimes other guys have good skillsets. Sometimes other guys are fresher. Sometimes it’s a rotation pattern. Some of our games haven’t dictated where a guy can get that many carries because some of our games have been lopsided and you don’t get a chance to get guys that many carries.”