Ad Disclosure
One of the keys to any successful season is staying healthy.
Injuries happen in college football. They’re inevitable. They can be devastating to star athletes and the team’s they play for. It’s always good news when those injured athletes return to the playing field.
Here’s a look at some of those key SEC players expected to return for the 2016 season:
RB Nick Chubb, Georgia – Among the Heisman hopefuls at the start of the 2015 season, Chubb was having a solid follow-up to his stellar freshman season when he suffered a season-ending knee in the sixth game of the season at Tennessee. Through five games Chubb had already piled up 745 yards and seven touchdowns on 91 carries. He led the nation with an average of 8.1 yards per carry. He was picking up where he left off in 2014 when he led the SEC with 14 rushing touchdowns and 1,760 yards from scrimmage. He has vowed to return stronger than ever for the 2016 season. There will be many Georgia fans and football fans in general around the SEC and the country hoping for the same.
WR Keon Hatcher, Arkansas – The Razorbacks leading receiver in 2014, Hatcher is returning for the 2016 season after a broken foot took him out of the lineup after just two games in 2015. Hatcher caught 43 passes for 558 yards and six touchdowns to pace the Hogs in 2014. He began the 2015 season with two big games as well and looked to be on his way to a spectacular season. He caught six passes for 106 yards and two touchdowns in the 2015 season opener, a 48-13 victory over UTEP. He added seven catches for 92 yards in a 16-12 loss to Toledo and that’s when his season ended. Hatcher will help bring along an Arkansas passing game in 2016 which will have a new signal-caller at the helm.
WR Travin Dural, LSU – Speaking of leading receivers, Dural led the Tigers in 2014 and was having another good year in 2015 when he was sidelined for the remainder of the season with a torn hamstring, suffered at Ole Miss in the 10th game of the season. Dural led the Tigers with 37 catches for 758 yards and seven touchdowns in 2014. His numbers weren’t quite as good in the 2015 season as RB Leonard Fournette made a bid for the Heisman Trophy. However, Dural did haul in 28 passes for 533 yards and three touchdowns prior to the injury. Having him back for 2016 gives the LSU passing game a huge boost and a nice compliment to what should be another stellar rushing attack led by Fournette.
QB Connor Mitch, South Carolina – The Gamecocks’ starter for the first two games of the 2015 season before suffering a shoulder injury in a 26-22 loss to Kentucky, Mitch was former ball coach Steve Spurrier’s choice to lead the team this past season. He threw for 122 yards and a touchdown in a season-opening 17-13 victory over a North Carolina team that went on to face Clemson for the ACC championship. But he completed just 9-of-22 passes with no interceptions and also ran for 44 yards on 10 carries. The 6-foot-3, 215-pounder is expected to battle for the starting spot in 2016 under the new regime in Columbia led by head coach Will Muschamp.
FB J.D. Moore, LSU – The Tigers watched helplessly as their run game production was cut in half as Moore, a bruising blocking back for Fournette, went down with a knee injury. There were other injuries suffered as well in the Tigers’ blocking scheme and a once feared running game ground was tamed. The 6-4, 235-pounder could help put the bite back in the Tigers’ running game if he can return healthy in 2016.
In addition, also key to that running game was TE Dillon Gordon, who also suffered a season-ending injury and is awaiting word from the NCAA on a medical redshirt. The return of both Moore and Gordon (6-5, 308) would be a huge boost to the LSU ground attack in 2016.
Glenn Sattell is an award-winning freelance writer for Saturday Down South.
