SEC Extra Points: Should Leonard Fournette and Nick Chubb Rest Up for the NFL?
One month into the season, two top-tier, draft-eligible running backs are ailing.
LSU running back Leonard Fournette has been nursing an ankle injury since the fourth quarter of the season opener and re-injured that ankle late in the 18-13 loss last week at Auburn.
"We don’t know, that’s up in the air right now," interim head coach Ed Orgeron said during Wednesday's teleconference. "[I] can say in all likelihood that he’ll try to play. It’ll be a game-time decision. But obviously, if it furthers any injury, we won’t play him."
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At Georgia, junior Nick Chubb is nursing an ankle injury of his own—just a month after returning to action after tearing three ligaments in his knee versus Tennessee last October. His status for this weekend's matchup against those same Vols is also questionable.
"For Chubb's wishes, I know that this game is important for him to come back," head coach Kirby Smart said. "It's something that's out of his control."
Obviously, this raises the question from folks—which seems to pop up every year with draft-eligible college superstars—of whether these backs should save themselves for the NFL.
As I wrote this summer, no, neither should consider sitting out.
In Fournette's case, I understand why this question gets asked.
LSU just fired head coach Les Miles, dropped its second game of the season, has no chance of living up to what were unreasonable national championship expectations and isn't likely to run the table from here on out, given the coaching turmoil.
But Fournette, like a lot of other college football players, actually enjoys playing college football.
He chose his home-state program after growing up in post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans and has said repeatedly that it's important for him to play for LSU in an effort to bring championships to the state.
While championships aren't likely for Fournette this year, the pride he feels as a Louisiana native won't dissipate.
In Chubb's case, why would he hold himself out?
Georgia's 45-14 loss to Ole Miss last week was ugly, but it still counts as only one loss.
The Bulldogs still have SEC East big boys Tennessee and Florida on the schedule, starting with the Vols this week between the hedges. They have a young quarterback who's easing into the full-time starting role in Jacob Eason and a first-time head coach in Smart who's still learning the ropes.
Everything is still in front of Georgia, as long as the players and coaches put the Ole Miss game in the past and focus on what's ahead.
Besides, former Georgia running back Herschel Walker is correct in the tweet above. If either sat out and put his own well-being ahead of his team's, that would open up a door for "anonymous" NFL scouts to waltz through and relentlessly ridicule him for being a "me first" player.
Even though anybody who has paid more than one second of attention to Fournette and Chubb in college knows that is false.
From Hunter to Hunted
In one half, Tennessee went from being the hunter to the hunted.
Sure, the Vols were picked to win the SEC East at media days back in July. But that was the first time since 2005 that they've received that kind of hype, and the 11-year winning streak Florida had over the program was one of the biggest hurdles standing in its way.
The 35-point second half and 38-28 win over the defending SEC East champion Gators transformed Tennessee from the hyped-up hunter to a suddenly proven front-runner, complete with a target on its back.
Head coach Butch Jones isn't worried about his team's reaction to suddenly being the hunted.
"We've not played our best football yet," he said. "We have not played 60 minutes of football yet. But this team has stayed together and stayed the course. You don't do that unless you have great character in the football program. Our players believe, now, that they're going to make plays to change the game."
With veterans such as senior quarterback Joshua Dobbs, junior running backs Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara, senior linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin and junior defensive end Derek Barnett etched in as the leaders of the team, Jones shouldn't have to worry about the Vols getting too full of themselves.
But those players haven't been in this position before, either.
The game this week versus Georgia will be a big test for this program. Win or lose, the SEC East title should still be attainable. But if the Vols come out and throttle Georgia in their place, after Ole Miss embarrassed the Bulldogs last weekend, it will signify that the Vols are a major threat in the race for the College Football Playoff.
A Permanent Change
For the first time this season, Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn relinquished his play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee last week in the 18-13 win over LSU. While the Tigers failed to score touchdowns on six trips to the red zone, there was less predictability and more variation in sequencing between the 20s as Auburn racked up 388 yards against its SEC West foes.
While that doesn't sound overwhelming by any stretch, there were several drops by wide-open wide receivers that would have pushed that yardage total up near 450.
It was a good enough performance for Malzahn to keep the same structure in place on a permanent basis moving forward, with Lashlee serving as the primary play-caller.
"I thought it was really good the way that it worked out on Saturday," Malzahn said on Wednesday. "I think it'll be a really good thing moving forward in the transition. We've got a really good offensive staff that I think will do a great job. The reality hit that, in this day and time, that's best for our team moving forward."
It's actually the perfect time to make this move.
Malzahn made it work against an SEC rival in a huge game. No, it wasn't as effective as he would probably have liked, but it was something to build on.
Now he gets to enhance the new system against Louisiana-Monroe before traveling to Mississippi State and hitting the bye week in mid-October.
It also gives Malzahn a little bit of deniability if things go south this season and he's forced to address staff changes to save his own job.
Coaches React to Les Miles' Dismissal
College football is a business, and every coach understands that his job is only as safe as the last season's success or failure.
With that said, many were disappointed Sunday night when they learned that LSU had dismissed head coach Les Miles after a 2-2 start midway through his 12th season in Baton Rouge.
"I don't think things like this surprise me," said Alabama head coach Nick Saban. "But I don't think I'm agreeable that it should be that way from a player's perspective and a program perspective to do these kinds of things during the season.
"I don't think college football should do these kinds of things, but what I think doesn't really matter."
What many don't realize is that, while rivals on the field, head coaches get to know one another and their families and become friends during the various offseason SEC and charitable events that many participate in.
"In this world, we all kind of bunker down," said Arkansas' Bret Bielema. "I have tremendous respect for Les. I had it before I came here and reinforced it even more. Everybody believes at those SEC meetings that we're just staring at each other across the table and not talking, but there's a brotherhood and fellowship that's pretty cool from all of our coaches."
Recently, the SEC has seen Auburn fire Gene Chizik two years after winning a national championship, LSU part ways with one of the most successful coaches in program history and Georgia dismiss Mark Richt despite posting back-to-back nine-win regular seasons.
"I understand the pressure that we're under," said Mississippi State's Dan Mullen. "Every one of us is in this league, you're on the hot seat. You're basically as good as your last game. We won the last game, so I guess I get a breather this week."
Respect for the Local Kid
Ralph Webb grew up in the shadow of "The Swamp" in Gainesville, Florida, but former head coach Will Muschamp passed on recruiting him thanks to the presence of former Gators Matt Jones and Kelvin Taylor.
Florida's loss has been Vanderbilt's gain, and Webb will have a chance to take it to his hometown team this weekend when the Gators visit the Commodores in Nashville, Tennessee.
Webb rushed for 907 yards as a freshman in 2014, reeled off 1,152 yards last year and currently leads the SEC with 472 yards and five touchdowns through four games in 2016.
"He constantly, even at contact, his legs are constantly moving, and he runs behind his pads," said Florida head coach Jim McElwain. "His great body lean, his quickness and his jump-cut, especially in the power game—the inside running game—is something that is very impressive. When he gets to the second level, he can go ahead and give you a leg and take it away. He's a hard guy to tackle and get clean shots on."
While Webb will want to show the Gators what they're missing out on, Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason doesn't expect Webb's mindset to be any different than what he sees every day in practice.
"There's motivation every time Ralph steps on the field to play," said Mason. "He wasn't highly recruited coming out, and he takes the challenge every week—whether it's the Florida Gators or any other team. He steps on the field with the same kind of passion and energy."
Mason went so far as to compare Webb's work ethic in practice to one of the best running backs of all time.
"When you look at how he practices, it mirrors how he plays on game day," Mason said. "He's not the same running back, so I don't want to give you the wrong idea...but when I watched Adrian Peterson practice when I was at Minnesota, everything was about giving 100 percent. Every run was finished. Every catch, every pass pro had some potential action. That's what Ralph is. Everything he does, he does with intentional actions."
That's high praise for Webb, one of the most underrated players in the country.
Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Statistics courtesy of CFBStats unless otherwise noted. All recruiting information is courtesy of Scout.com. Odds provided by Odds Shark.
Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.
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