ATHENS —Tate Ratledge might prove to be the most important player on the 2024 Georgia football team.

Such things are not often said about offensive guards, as they do their gritty, blue-collar work in the shadows of highlight-friendly playmakers.

But Ratledge has the sort of charismatic leadership style that helps breed championship teams, and his role on the offensive line is paramount with former captain Sedrick Van Pran moved on to the NFL.

Indeed, it’s one thing for coach Kirby Smart to tell quarterback Carson Beck to become more assertive, but it’s another when Ratledge is in Beck’s ear hole encouraging him to me more vocal — which he is.

“I’ve had a few conversions with him, that when he speaks people, are gonna listen,” said Ratledge, who has been among Beck’s closest friends these past four years. “He’s our starting quarterback, and I think every team needs their starting quarterback to have some kind of voice.

“Him stepping up — and he has — it’s been big, and people listen when he talks.”

People listen when the likable Ratledge speaks, too, as he brings a charismatic leadership style similar to future College Football Hall of Famer and 2021 ringleader Jordan Davis.

Davis, like Ratledge, had an irresistible charm and tremendous sense of humor — the better to help teammates push through the dog days of summer and grueling August workouts.

There are times for team leaders to be tough and hold teammates accountable in a stern manner, for certain, but Ratledge knows there are also times when a lighter touch is needed.

“You have to be that guy sometimes, it brings people up,” Ratledge said. “Especially during camp when you’re tired, your’re worn out, and you’re hurting.”

Ratledge, like Beck, is making a concerted effort to be more vocal for the betterment of the team.

“Definitely more vocal than I’ve been — I’ve been in a room with Sed (Van Pran), who is one of the best leaders I’ve ever been around, so I’ve never really had to be that guy,” Ratledge explained.

“This year, especially in our line room, I have to be that guy and kind of get people going,” He said. “I’m the older guy, people listen to me. So stepping into that role is one thing that’s going to be big for me during this camp.”

Smart has opened fall camp with as much edge and intensity as any of the previous eight he has been at the helm, and Ratledge said there’s a lot more of that to come leading up to the noon season-opener against Clemson on Aug. 31.

“I don’t think Coach Smart will change his ways, we’ll be physical, we’ll have tough practices, camp is going to be hard,” Ratledge said. “It always is, you figure out what your team is. I don’t think he’s going to change anything.”

Some of the incoming transfers and freshman are already feeling it, wearing more sweat stains on their jerseys than veterans like Ratledge who knew to be ready for Smart’s suffocating workouts.

“I look forward to it, it’s football — we’re not out there running or slinging weights around,” Ratledge said, explaining why he embraces the challenging fall practices.

“This is football and it’s what we’re here to do. As you get older, you learn that, and the younger guys will figure that out at some point — it took me some time to figure it out.”

And Ratledge certainly has, standing before the media on Thursday as a grown man capable of leading those around him and setting the sort of example Georgia will need at the forefront to win the national championship.