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Michel and Chubb add firepower to already talented Georgia backfield
By Jordan Cox
Published:
It’s not every day a coach adds two five-star recruits on the same side of the ball, let alone at the same position. That’s what Mark Richt and running backs coach Bryan McClendon has this year in true freshmen running backs Sony Michel and Nick Chubb.
Michel, who hails from Plantation, Fla., rushed for 1,833 yards during his senior season at American Heritage. Michel’s physique is similar to junior Keith Marshall, at 5-foot-11, 208-pounds.
Chubb is from Cedartown, Ga. and Cedartown High School, where he rushed for a staggering 2,690 yards as a senior. He more closely resembles Todd Gurley at 5-foot-10, 228-pounds.
Michel and Chubb will be behind “Gurshell” on the depth chart, along with Brendan Douglas. The two won’t put up the numbers that Gurley and Marshall did as freshmen in 2012 — 2,144 yards and 25 touchdowns combined — but have drawn comparisons and will add coveted depth and talent to a running back position already stacked for the Bulldogs.
“We’re coming in to push them and making them better and they’re doing the same for us,” Chubb said Monday in a preseason interview.
“Chubb’s a real hard down hill runner,” quarterback Hutson Mason told the Athens Banner-Herald. “Sony’s a little bit different, a little more versatile, has great balance. We plan on using him in some different ways this year,” said Mason.
Michel is receiving threat, which will benefit the Bulldogs, whereas Chubb didn’t catch a single pass as a senior at Cedartown High.
During a scrimmage on Saturday evening, Chubb led all rushers with 52 yards on seven carries, while Michel added 21 yards on five carries. Chubb didn’t fumble once, calling it “disappointing.”
Though their potential impact on offense in 2014 is still unknown, both should be a presence on special teams. Chubb is working on all special teams, and has a chance to start on punt coverage, according to media reports.
After living in Birmingham, Ala., Jordan left the ground zero of SEC Nation to head south to Florida to tell the unique stories of the renowned tradition of SEC football. In his free time, his mission is to find the best locales around.
