With Nick Chubb, Sony Michel uncertain, Georgia's opener a little scarier

Despite tearing his knee midway through the 2015 season, Georgia’s Nick Chubb is a preseason All-SEC pick.

Every bit as productive as Alabama’s Derrick Henry — the eventual Heisman Trophy winner — and LSU’s Leonard Fournette after five weeks, Chubb exited the Tennessee game Oct. 10 following his first carry.

While Chubb has been working as hard as possible to make it all the way back, it’s difficult to determine at this point if he will be the same between-the-tackles battering ram for the Bulldogs this coming year. He averaged 7.1 yards per rush as a freshman and 8.1 as a sophomore. Serious standards, to say the least.

UGA leaned on Sony Michel in Chubb’s absence a season ago, but now he too is a question mark for Week 1.

Proving once again that too much free time and too little supervision is a dangerous combination for many student-athletes, Michel broke his arm earlier this month in an accident involving an all-terrain vehicle.

Michel wasn’t the punishing down-to-down ball carrier that Chubb was for the Dawgs — ideal as the No. 2, limited as the No. 1 — although he did run for 1,161 yards to earn third-team all-conference honors. When healthy, he and Chubb form one of the better one-two punches not just in the SEC, but in the nation.

RELATED: Kirby Smart not necessarily trying to turn Georgia into another Alabama

Neither is expected to be 100 percent when Georgia faces North Carolina in the opener at the Georgia Dome.

“Nick is progressing really well,” first-year coach Kirby Smart said last Tuesday at SEC Media Days. “Nick is working hard. I repeat that every time I talk. I don’t think anybody in this room would expect anything less from Nick Chubb. This guy is passionate. It means something to him.”

Nobody disputes that Chubb is going all out to be a carbon copy of what he was previously. A shredded knee is a shredded knee, though. Especially at his position, periodically it takes two full years to really recover.

“He’s doing everything with the rest of the team as far as summer workouts,” Smart said. “That may change when we go to pads. He’s not going to go out there and do everything right away as far as tackling and scrimmaging. Ultimately he’s got to gain confidence in that knee back, and he’s taking the right steps in that direction.”

At least Chubb’s injury occurred in the heat of battle. Needless to say, that’s not the case for Michel’s arm issue. Boys will be boys, of course, but Smart had to have been grinding his teeth talking about the timetable for Michel’s return — particularly as a rookie coach. ATVs are a no-no for any serious athlete.

“Kind of a sad injury, very upsetting for him,” he said. “He’s probably in the best shape of his life. He worked hard to be in the best shape of his life. He’s a very versatile back, and he’s a great kid that had a really good spring practice. He took a lot of the load in spring practice with us being down running backs.”

Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Chatter is starting to swirl in Athens that Michel may require more healing time than originally thought.

“I don’t know the expectation for Sony, if he’ll be back or not,” Smart said. “We’ll know a lot more when we get closer to the season. A lot of that injury is how does the muscle repair itself around that plated bone. That will be a big part of it.”

With the Tar Heels set for Sept. 3 in Atlanta, the Bulldogs don’t have the luxury of opening with Cupcake State — perhaps buying another week’s rest for both Chubb and Michel — between the hedges. UNC is scary.

Under the direction of quarterback Marquise Williams, North Carolina finished first in points per game in the ACC a year ago and second in total offense. Williams is out of eligibility, but Elijah Hood is a force in the backfield and Mitch Tribusky did hit on 85.1 percent of his passes in nine games of reserve duty.

Even if Smart is known as a defensive wizard, UGA will have to score plenty of points to defeat the Heels.

Envisioning a worst-case scenario, if neither Chubb nor Michel can suit up, then the Dawgs will have next to no experience in the backfield. Four-star signee Elijah Holyfield could be the guy as a true freshman.

RELATED: Jacob Eason? To be determined

All the more interesting, fellow blue-chip addition Jacob Eason — the No. 2 QB in the country, according to the composite rankings at 247Sports — is the people’s choice to start immediately at the game’s most important position. Quite simply, he has more pure arm talent than the incumbent, senior Greyson Lambert.

If North Carolina’s offense in any way resembles what it was last year, the freshmen will have to produce.

Eason could have Chubb and Michel at his disposal. Or maybe just one. It’s also possible that each is sidelined. Regardless, expecting Eason to throw 40-plus times in his college debut may be unwise.

Making matters more difficult, Georgia was anything but impressive throwing the ball last season. Part of that was due to mediocre quarterback play, but the receiving corps was also inconsistent — primary target Malcolm Mitchell is now in the pros, too. Tight end Jeb Blazevich may be UGA’s most reliable pass catcher.

“Obviously the passing game is an important component, but at Georgia we have a reputation as a hard-nosed offense,” said center Brandon Kublanow, another preseason All-SEC choice. “We take pride in our ability to run the football.”

We all want to see Eason chuck it. But Smart probably just wants to watch him hand it off to Chubb and Co.

John Crist is the senior writer for Saturday Down South. You can send him an e-mail directly at jcrist@saturdaydownsouth.com or follow him on Twitter @SaturdayJC.