Can Mike Davis Stay Healthy in 2014?

Putting a damper on the festivities of the opening day of football practice yesterday was the news that South Carolina Gamecocks running back Mike Davis was held out due to a hamstring injury he suffered in the offseason.

Uh-oh.

We don’t need to tell you that Davis, who will be the focal point of this offense in 2014, needs to stay completely healthy for his team to have any chance to win the SEC East. Fortunately, according to Steve Spurrier, the junior running back should be available in the next few days.

Which would be none too soon.

It’s not that we don’t think that the guys below Davis on the depth chart–Brandon Wilds, Shon Carson and David Williams–aren’t capable. Who knows? One of them could be the greatest running back in program history.

It’s just the fact that the team could do without as little injury drama as possible, especially to one of its star players. Remember, Davis was banged up at times last season–the injury that wasn’t in the game against Mizzou and his eventual petering out at the end. While the Gamecocks proved that they could win without Davis at his best, I think they’d prefer healthy Mike to hurt Mike.

So here’s hoping that hamstring injury is as close to 100% as possible come August 28. Because while it would be nice to have Davis around for 2015, it might not necessarily bode well for this year if he is.