Sleep on Georgia at your own peril this coming season.

The Bulldogs boast a new coach in Kirby Smart and have two major questions surrounding the quarterback position and the health of tailback Nick Chubb. But the Dawgs return a strong nucleus that could shock some pundits by winning a weak SEC East in 2016.

Smart had his choice of jobs from across the nation, but there was a reason he chose to return to Athens. And that reason extended well beyond his love for his alma mater. And it doesn’t hurt that the SEC East is again down as a division and ripe for the taking. The Dawgs haven’t won the division and reached the SEC Championship Game since 2012 and haven’t claimed an outright conference title since 2005.

But championships matter at Georgia, as evidenced by Mark Richt’s shocking dismissal following another 10-win season.

Georgia’s roster has always been stacked with talent. The program needed the right person to properly stir the mix. Smart just may be that guy.

The former longtime Alabama defensive coordinator was hired in December to replace Richt and has been careful to temper expectations as he prepares for his first season as a head coach. He continues to say all the right things this spring about returning quarterbacks Greyson Lambert and Brice Ramsey, as well as much-heralded recruit Jacob Eason.

Lambert and Ramsey have split the first-team reps this spring and will likely do so again for this coming Saturday’s G-Day Game at Sanford Stadium.

The reality is that Lambert, who started most of last season to largely disappointing results, gives his team the best chance to win early on when Georgia starts the season in Atlanta against a ranked North Carolina team. It will mark the first of three games within the season’s first five weeks against teams that figure to be ranked in the AP Top 25 this fall, only to be followed by a stiff road test at Ole Miss (Sept. 24) and a telling home date with oncoming Tennessee (Oct. 1).

But make no mistake: Lambert is just keeping the seat warm until Eason assumes the keys to the kingdom.

Contrary to the wishes of the many excited Dawgs fans, Smart is wise enough not to be tempted to throw the former five-star recruit to the wolves so early and risk his confidence and the team’s overall success this season. Bringing him along slowly is the right call, even it means watching Lambert struggle in some of those early key matchups.

Smart will never say it, but he’s giddy about the possibilities down the road with Eason at the helm. There was a good reason reassuring a wavering Eason was Smart’s top priority immediately after taking the job.

Blessed at 6-foot-5, 211 pounds, a cannon for an arm and a football IQ beyond his years, Eason will soon be the kind of quarterback for which every coach dreams. A coach on the field with the rare ability — and the necessary chutzpah — to attack every part of a defense.

Smart just needs to be patient for that day, and he’s doing just that.

Of course, it’s easier to be cool your jets when you have a powerful running game. Georgia has never lacked in that category and will again be strong on the ground this coming season with the return of Chubb and the talented Sony Michel.

Michel took over for the injured Chubb last October, totaling 1,161 yards rushing and 270 more receiving to almost single-handedly carried the Bulldogs offense the rest of the way. He’ll likely be the go-to guy again to start this season as Chubb works his way back from the horrific knee injury that felled him.

Chubb, a first-team team All-SEC pick as a freshman in 2014 after chewing up 1,547 yards and 14 touchdowns, was one of the best players in the nation at the time of his injury. Just returning close to that form makes Georgia a much better team. A healthy Chubb and Michel would constitute what might easily be the nation’s best backfield.

Sophomore wide receiver Terry Godwin figures to be the Dawgs’ top playmaker in the passing game. The former five-star recruit made nine starts and came on strong by the end of last season, earning MVP honors in the TaxSlayer Bowl win over Penn State after tossing one touchdown pass and catching another. Incoming freshman receiver Riley Ridley, the speedy younger brother of Alabama star Calvin Ridley, will also figure into the equation by serving as a legitimate vertical threat.

The abundance of playmakers will help alleviate the pressure from a Georgia offensive line that was erratic at times in 2015. New offensive line coach Sam Pittman, who comes from Arkansas, boasts a long history of success and will be looking to bring that same magic to Athens.

But Smart has said that group still has a lot of room for improvement.

“‘Stable’ as quality reps and quality two-deep? We’re not there,” Smart told Gridiron Now. “We gave up some sacks in the scrimmage and we didn’t pass protect real well. …

“We’ve got to get better. We’ve got to help those guys at those positions. We’ve got to chip for them and we’ve got to do a good job because we’re struggling at those spots right now.”

The Dawgs were solid on defense a year ago, but will miss departed star linebackers Jordan Jenkins and Leonard Floyd. But new defensive coordinator Mel Tucker inherits a unit that is again brimming with talent, especially up front. Tim Kimbrough, Davin Bellamy, Reggie Carter and promising sophomore Natrez Patrick will head a talented linebacker unit that figures to again make Saturday afternoons miserable for opposing quarterbacks and ball carriers.

First-team All-SEC free safety Dominick Sanders highlights a deep and athletic secondary that figures to be even better with a year of experience.

As has been the case so often in the past, a lack of talent is never the issue in Athens.

The unveiling of the Kirby Smart era just means the season opener against the Tar Heels might not be the last the Dawgs see of the Georgia Dome in 2016.