It’s an interesting question.

Who will have the better running game? Florida or Georgia?

I don’t have an official answer for that today. But I do have a guess as to which one of these strong ground games will be better than the other.

One player isn’t going to make or break that. And even though Georgia had the advantage in 2018 (No. 16) over Florida (No. 27), the Gators made massive strides in the first year of the Dan Mullen era. There’s no guarantee that just because Georgia held that title each of the past 6 seasons, it’ll make it 7.

So to try and figure out the best possible guess to answer that question, why don’t we break this up into a few categories:

What they lost

On the surface, it might be easy to look at this and say, yeah, Georgia lost more than Florida. After all, the Dawgs have to replace a 1,000-yard rusher (Elijah Holyfield) and the Gators don’t (Jordan Scarlett). Each team lost a key member of the backfield early to the NFL Draft, and in my opinion, Holyfield was the better of that group.

But that’s only part of it.

On the offensive line, I think the Gators lost a good amount more. Having to replace the likes of possible first-round pick Jawaan Taylor, second-team All-SEC selection Martez Ivey and a 3-year starter in Fred Johnson is a lot. Compare that to Georgia, which lost the valuable Lamont Gaillard and tight end Isaac Nauta.

To me, that disparity in what Florida lost on the offensive line outweighs the relatively small difference between Scarlett and Holyfield. As a result, I believe Georgia has less to replace, even though the Dawgs watched Jim Chaney leave for Tennessee.

Who has the advantage — Georgia

Returning running backs

Let me start by saying I love me some Lamical Perine. I’m excited that he’s back for another year because he has potential to shine with an even heavier workload in 2019. I bet that was a big part of what kept him in Gainesville.

Having said that, D’Andre Swift is on a different level. The devastating cuts in space and the ability to hit the home run play make him as dangerous as anyone in the SEC in 2019. Swift showed everyone what he could do when healthy in the latter half of the season, and he’ll be firmly in the Heisman Trophy discussion until further notice.

So in terms of the lead back, Georgia has the advantage. After that, it gets interesting. To me, this really why both can have Top 15 ground games.

Florida is crazy deep with a healthy Malik Davis and Dameon Pierce (6.1 yards per carry) both back. In many ways, Florida has what Georgia has had the past few years. That is, a true staple of playmaking backs who should all get regular work. You could argue that the Gators have the more proven commodities in their backfield.

But as far as upside goes, the Dawgs are loaded with it. The highly-anticipated debut of Zamir White is a big part of that. If the former 5-star recruit lives up to some high preseason expectations, he could take the SEC by storm. And let’s not forget about the promising James Cook, who ran for 7 yards per carry as a freshman. Add in the experienced Brian Herrien and Georgia looks all sorts of dangerous again.

It’s closer than some might think, but given the second half we saw from Swift and the potential of White, the Dawgs have the leg up.

Who has the advantage — Georgia

Quarterback running ability

I’ll be the first to admit that I was pleasantly surprised with how well Feleipe Franks ran the ball in Mullen’s system. I’ll also be the first to admit that my expectations were extremely low. But Franks, to his credit, showed by season’s end that he had the ability to call his own number and move the chains.

Franks finished the season with 350 rushing yards and 7 touchdowns, which didn’t exactly make him Nick Fitzgerald, but he was still plenty effective as a runner. He had a rushing touchdown in 5 of his last 6 games, during which he racked up 244 rushing yards. I’d expect those numbers to increase after a full year in Mullen’s offense.

Do I think Jake Fromm could have some success if he was in a system that asked him to run the ball more? Probably, but that’s not his primary skill. Fromm is good for the rare, surprise keeper off the run-pass option, but he’s not going to ever be a major weapon as a runner in Georgia’s offense.

Who has the advantage — Florida

Offensive line play

There might not be a better offensive tackle in America than Andrew Thomas. As long as he can stay healthy, Georgia certainly has the best individual player of the bunch. As for the unit itself, it’s pretty amazing how much 5-star talent the Dawgs have accumulated at the position the past couple years.

Cade Mays stepped in and played well as a true freshman, and Isaiah Wilson performed well in his first active season. The injuries to Thomas, Ben Cleveland and Gaillard, while they hurt at the time, they allowed young offensive linemen like Mays, Wilson and Trey Hill to get valuable experience.

Florida is a bit more of a mystery up front because of having to replace staples like Taylor, Ivey and Johnson. The depth is a concern with several freshmen likely to be forced into action. Nick Buchanan returns at center, but other than that, the starters are a bunch of relatively unproven upperclassmen.

Does that mean Florida is destined to struggle up front? Of course not. But if we’re talking about preseason projections, Georgia’s offensive line has a lot more answers than questions, which I’m not sure is the case for Florida.

Who has the advantage — Georgia

So, who should be better?

Georgia.

I realize those categories didn’t cover everything. Mullen is a better play-caller than James Coley while Fromm is more accurate down the field than Franks. We also didn’t dig into other factors like quality of run defenses each team will face.

But for the arguments listed here, which I believe to be the biggest factors in projecting ground games, it’s Georgia who has the advantage. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Dawgs and Gators both had Top 15 groups by season’s end with both Swift and Perine earning All-SEC honors.

It’s splitting hairs, but for now, give me the Dawgs to keep the streak going.