ATHENS — The Georgia football running back stable is stacked with talent, and no one knows that better than veteran first-team All-SEC safety J.R. Reed.
Projected started D’Andre Swift has been talked about among Heisman Trophy contenders provided he can stay healthy, and redshirt freshman Zamir White is making headlines with his comeback from last year’s torn ACL.
But sophomore James Cook looks to be someone to keep an eye on, too, Reed suggested following Thursday’s practice.
“Cook is just a lot, he’s just so fast, man, he’s so fast, he’s hard to touch,” Reed said. “He has really good balance, it’s hard to get him out of bounds, he’ll cut those corners and there will be an inch on the sideline, and he’ll tightrope it all the way down it to the end zone.
“You have to be really, really tight on your angles with Cook, because he’ll either cut it back or he’ll turn it up on you, so you have to be smart and track that hip.”
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White, the No. 1-ranked tailback in the 2018 class, has shown he’s ready to run with authority in fall camp, and Reed has felt that as much as seen it.
“I’ve been able to fill the hole on Zamir a lot of times, really big psychical running back ,I feel sorry for the guys that have to go against him,” Reed said. “He reminds me of (Nick) Chubb, especially running the ball, how physical he is and downhill, and that’s the biggest thing that comes to my mind.”
Reed said White’s offseason workouts were so impressive, he felt confident he would make a healthy return even before his first full contact in fall drills.
“Once you see a guy work out like that in the summer and see that he’s ready to go, that’s when you know he’s back,” Reed said. “Once he’s comfortable doing the drills, and once you see he’s comfortable cutting off that foot, that’s when you know he’s back.”
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