7. Nick Chubb
Nick Chubb had a fantastic season as a freshman in 2014, filling in for a suspended/injured Todd Gurley and rolling to 1,547 yards and 14 touchdowns. He started out his sophomore season atop many preseason Heisman watch lists – some even had him as high as the de facto favorite – before an October leg injury ended his 2015 campaign prematurely.
Here we are again, and with another spring comes another opportunity to speculate about Chubb’s potential as the featured back on a Georgia Bulldogs team that is hungry to reclaim its status as one of the top teams in the competitive SEC East. With Steve Spurrier retiring from South Carolina and Florida fading down the stretch last season, there’s never been a better time for Georgia to reassert its position among its peers.
New head coach Kirby Smart understandably will be under the most pressure to make this ascension happen, but a lot of the Bulldogs’ fortunes should also fall at the feet of Chubb. It’s up to the junior running back to prove he can return to form in 2016, and if he can pick up where he left off last October while displaying no negative results from his knee injury and subsequent recovery, the rest of the SEC and the NCAA as a whole should look out.
Next: 6. J.T. Barrett