ATHENS — Ever since Brice Ramsey elected to return to the Georgia football team, the question about Jake Fromm has centered around whether he might redshirt this season.

Head coach Kirby Smart, asked just that on Saturday,  never quite ruled that out. But Smart also made clear that at this point Fromm is being prepared to play.

“I don’t even know that you even think about that right now,” Smart said about redshirting Fromm. “You try to let things happen as they happen. It’s not a conversation where go in and say, ‘What do we have to do to let Jake Fromm redshirt?’ What do we have to do to let Jake Fromm play?’ That’s not a consideration. The consideration is we’ve got to develop Jake Fromm as fast as possible.”

Sophomore Jacob Eason is set to be Georgia’s starter this year. Ramsey, while he has never started a game, has appeared in games and is a fifth-year senior.

But Ramsey also sat out the spring, so Fromm, the true freshman who enrolled in January, has been working second team this week.

“As of today he’s one play way from playing,” Smart said of Fromm. “We don’t think like that. We don’t think like, ‘Oh we’re going to redshirt this guy or this set of guys.’ I don’t think that’s the way to look at it. I think it’s to say, Can Jake continue to grow at the rate that he’s growing? Can he make decisions, make the throws that we want him to make? Can he run the offense, execute the offense and lead the offense in the right way? If he continues to do those things, then he’s competing for everything. Not just who’s the backup.”

Offensive coordinator Jim Chaney demurred when asked what the depth chart was behind Eason right now, deferring to Smart “and your own personal assumptions.”

“Brice is good, he gives us the added depth of someone else who understands the offense and what we’re doing. I’m tickled to death to get him back,” Chaney said. “Jake’s doing good too. We’re pleased with the three of those guys. That quarterback room is a lot of fun right now. …

“Jake Fromm is a competitive kid, as you all well know. We’ve watched him compete. He’ll go out there and compete every day, and throughout, with all competition that we have, we’re all going to get better, including me.”