ATHENS — Georgia football talk turns to action and potential will become performance when the Bulldogs start practice on Thursday.

Coach Kirby Smart enters his ninth season as UGA’s head coach with a preseason No. 1-ranked team that features another roster loaded with talent.

Quarterback Carson Beck leads the lineup of stars as the nation’s leading returning passing yardage leader and a preseason Heisman Trophy favorite.

Beck also leads the list of players that was compiled for this week’s “On the Beat” Show, among the players we can’t wait to see take the field.

Here’s how the categories broke down:

Most anticipated:

Trevor Etienne, Nate Frazier

These two home run-hitting backs will bring the juice, giving the Georgia offense an explosive element out of the backfield it has lacked since D’Andre Swift’s playing days.

Highest expectations:

Offense: Carson Beck and Dominic Lovett hooked up 10 times in the G-Day Game, and by now, they should be able to play catch in the dark. Defense: Safety Malaki Starks will provide leadership and playmaking in the secondary, while Mykel Williams will prove a menace for QBs up front.

X-Facts: Offense: Stanford tight end transfer Ben Yurosek is expected to bring a Bowers-like element to the offense. Defense: Nazir Stackhouse and Warren Brinson returned to grow into dominating first-round talents — jury’s still out, we’ll see.

Taken for granted: Offense: Georgia fans really should celebrate having the best interior line in college football more: Tate Ratledge, Dylan Fairchild, Micah Morris and Jared Wilson are elite. Defense: What is it about UGA linebackers that they are always good? You just know CJ Allen, Raylen Wilson and Jalon Walker will be ready, and if Smael Mondon is healthy he’s rock solid.

Wild cards: Is KJ Bolden really ahead of where Starks was two years ago, as Smart implied? Can Colbie Young be an every-down receiver and have as much impact as fellow former Miami transfer Lawrence Cager once did? Will Lawson Luckie get his pre-injury swag back and factor into the pass game? Will Roderick Robinson become a household SEC name, or will Branson Robinson wrestle a starting job away from him once healthy? Will the Bulldogs finally find an elite return man, perhaps Anthony Evans, that will put their special teams over the top?