ATHENS — Malaki Starks has seemingly gone from freshman phenom to speaking on behalf of the Georgia defense in the blink of an eye.

Starks, a rising junior a projected first-round NFL draft talent, has been the Bulldogs’ main brand ambassador with his appearance at Camp Sunshine and charismatic interviews.

It was no wonder the cameras and microphones followed him closely at the SEC Media Days earlier this offseason, catching revealing comments about this 2024 version of Georgia football.

The Bulldogs are the preseason No. 1-ranked team and open the campaign at noon on August. 31 against Clemson in Atlanta at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Here’s some of Starks’ offseason takeaways on the opening game and Georgia’s offense:

On the Clemson opening game:

“We’ve got a bunch of good teams on our schedule, they just happen to be one of them, so I’m excited to see what we can do. One of my friends I went to high school with, Sammy Brown, is down there now, so it’s going to be exciting to go back and forth with him. "

On Carson Beck:

“I think the thing for Carson is just to step up and be Carson. Just be himself. And I think he’s starting to realize that. He’s starting to get a lot more comfortable with his role of just being that guy, being that voice on the offense and on the whole team. Just him being himself is the biggest thing for him right now, and I think he’s doing that very well.”

On Offensive Reload:

I think offense is doing great. They really are. The guys that came in like Trevor (Etienne), Colbie (Young), the transfers that we got, they’ve stepped up and they’ve taken a bigger part in the offense.

I like to say that we don’t rebuild, we reload, and those guys are doing a great job of stepping up and learning, so I’m excited to see what they can do.

Underrated Offensive Player:

“I say his name every now and then, but I think Dillon Bell. I think Dillon Bell is that guy people need to watch out for. The way he works, the way he goes about his business. It’s just incredible. Just to be able to compete with a guy like that is huge, so I’m excited to see what he does this season. "

Favorite Offensive Player to Compete With:

“I’d say Dom, Dominic Lovett. When he got here from Missouri, he was fitting into the culture and now he’s one of those leaders on the team. Just his competitive spirit, which is why we go at it a lot. We all talk about the Missouri game, how he got him and he got me. We go back and forth and we keep tally who wins, so that’s huge.”

Cole Speer’s Role at WR:

“Cole is one of the leaders on this team, just the way he goes about his business, the way he puts his head down and works, great athlete. Cole is awesome. To see him kind of grow, and the role he’s going to step into this season is going to be huge for him, and I’m excited to see what he does with it.”

On Playing for Kirby Smart:

“He’s intense. He’s very intense, but he means well. He’s very competitive. He’s just a guy who wants to go out there and win and wants to bring the best out of you. That’s one reason why I chose to come to Georgia, just to be around a guy like that.”