Nick Chubb, Sony Michel returning to Georgia Bulldogs for 2017

Nick Chubb, Sony Michel, Lorenzo Carter and Davin Bellamy have all decided to return to the Georgia Bulldogs for their senior seasons in 2017.

The 2016 college football season was not a great one for the Georgia Bulldogs. This was the first season of the Kirby Smart era in Athens, and his Bulldogs stumbled to a 7-5 (4-4) campaign in 2016.

While losses to the Tennessee Volunteers, the Florida Gators and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets still sting for many in Dawg Nation, they should feel very optimistic about 2017. On Thursday, Marc Weiszer of the Athens Banner-Herald announced that four key juniors from the 2016 Georgia team would be returning to Athens in 2017: running backs Nick Chubb and Sony Michel and outside linebackers Lorenzo Carter and Davin Bellamy.

Chubb, Michel and Carter were true juniors while Bellamy was a redshirt junior. These four players clearly have some unfinished business to take cake of in Athens in 2017. All four players could have been selected in the 2017 NFL Draft but feel compelled to leave Georgia in a better place since arriving in 2013/2014.

The Bulldogs have not won a national title since 1980, haven’t played for one since 1982, haven’t won the SEC since 2005 and haven’t won the SEC East since 2012. It’s easy to see why these rising seniors would want to come back for 2017.

Chubb is the one player of the four that seemed almost certain to enter the 2017 NFL Draft. He was a sensational running back in his freshman and sophomore campaigns. Chubb would tear multiple ligaments in his knee against Tennessee in 2015. He hasn’t been the same running back since.

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Georgia’s biggest issues of 2016 had been the lack of dynamism from its senior class. By seeing Bellamy, Carter, Chubb and Michel return for their senior seasons, this could be the sign of good things to come for Smart’s 2017 Bulldogs team.