Georgia feels much, much better about its quarterback position entering 2024 than it did last season.

For one, it clearly knows its starting quarterback. That would be Carson Beck. This time last year, he was still competing with Brock Vandagriff and Gunner Stockton to earn the starting quarterback job.

Now he returns as one of the top quarterbacks in the country. ESPN’s David Hale had Georgia ranked in the top tier of quarterback rooms for the 2024 season. The other three teams in the top tier were Alabama, Texas and Oregon.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart recently spoke about what he wanted to see out of Beck this season.

“He was in complete command of it (last year), but there were times I think he knows that he could say, ‘you know what, I can step up and be a bigger voice and a bigger leader,’” Smart said. “We had a lot of veteran players on that offense that had played a lot more than him. Now we don’t. He is the veteran that has played the most and has the most command. He’ll do a good job doing that.”

Beck isn’t the lone reason for optimism in the quarterback room.

Behind Beck, Georgia will have Gunner Stockton and Jaden Rashada compete for the backup job. Stockton is entering his third season in the Georgia program and got his first real action in Georgia’s win over Florida State. He threw for 98 yards and 2 touchdowns in the 63-3 win.

Georgia also nabbed Rashada out of the transfer portal in April. He started three games for Arizona State last season before transferring to Georgia.

While to this point Rashada’s lawsuit against Florida have generated plenty of headlines, Smart is still excited in what Rashada can be as a prospect.

“Jaden is a good football player,” Smart said. “We knew Jaden when he was coming out. He’s got a good body of work. He’s had the ability to the play, which is really critical at the quarterback position. He’s actually played it, and he’s very talented. We’re happy he’s joining us and looking forward to working with him.”

Georgia signed freshman quarterback Ryan Puglisi as a member of the 2024 signing class. He was limited in his first spring at Georgia due to a knee injury. He’s expected to be 100 percent at the start of fall camp in August.

The Bulldogs have gotten good health in each of the past three seasons, but one only needs to look at the 2020 season when Georgia had to start three different starting quarterbacks. That was the last time Georgia lost multiple games in a season.

Expectations are high for Goergia entering this season, in part because Beck returns as the team’s starter. Georgia has plenty of talent on both sides of the ball but if the Bulldogs are going to win a national championship, it may well need Beck to be its best player. Which in turn could well mean Beck is the best quarterback in the country.