Georgia football enters the 2024 season as one of the top teams in the country. But it won’t be all on the shoulders of Kirby Smart to lead this team to another national championship. There will be many twists and turns along the way, with different players being asked to step up.
With that in mind, DawgNation is previewing the upcoming season, looking at the most important names, games and everything in between. Today, the DawgNation team is focused on the most important offensive player. While it might seem obvious, there are many reasons that quarterback Carson Beck has earned that distinction.
Connor Riley: “This season, Georgia is only going to go as far as Carson Beck will carry it. That’s a big reason why Beck bypassed the NFL draft a season ago to come back for another year. Heavy is the head that wears the crown but Georgia feels very confident in what Beck will be able to give them this year.”
Mike Griffith: “Carson Beck is the franchise. He makes all the throws, he’s got the mobility, he reads the defenses, he’s Mike Bobo’s brain on the field. Carson Beck needs to have that special year for Georgia to win a national championship.”
Jeff Sentell: “Carson Beck only needs to be about 15 percent better than he was a year ago. He does that, he has a prolific all-time passing season in Athens. He has the receivers to do it. He is the general, he is the captain, he has to be captain clutch in the fourth quarter.”
Brandon Adams: “It’s somewhat rare for a Kirby Smart team to have a quarterback who is such a central character in the preseason storylines. That there is so much chatter around Beck right now, that’s perhaps evidence of a special season on the way for him.”
Beck started all 14 games for Georgia last season, accounting for 28 touchdowns and throwing for 3,941 passing yards. He was named First Team All-SEC quarterback at SEC media days to start the year and is seen as one of the Heisman Trophy favorites entering the season.
Herschel Walker was the last Bulldog to win the Heisman Trophy, doing so in 1982. Stetson Bennett was the last Georgia quarterback to be a Heisman finalist, a feat Beck got to watch when he was a backup during the 2022 season.
Beck and the Bulldogs will open the 2024 season against the Clemson Tigers on Aug. 31. That will be Beck’s first opportunity to leave his mark on the college football season
