I grew up the youngest of 3 in my family. My oldest brother was 5 years older than I was, and my sister was just about 3 full years ahead. Now, when it comes to family dynamics, I know the reputation we babies of the group always have:

We’re the spoiled ones. Our parents, if they’re finished having kids, shower us youngest with all the attention. They’ve also been through everything that comes with being a parent at least once before, so the same rules or repercussions that may have existed in the past maybe aren’t quite as stringent as they used to be.

But I’m here to tell you that 1 thing will always be true of the youngest: For better or worse, we will always be measured next to the accomplishments or shortcomings of our siblings who went through it 1st.

If a sibling graduated with honors, you’re probably held to the same standard. If one got into a bit of trouble, you’re forced to deal with the repercussions of those choices as well as your own.

You are less your own person as much as a collection of lessons learned or expectations set by those who came before you.

Thus, we come to the 2022 Georgia Bulldogs, a team that, for the life of us, we just can’t help but measure against the one that ended the program’s national title drought a year ago.

On the 1 hand, I get it. It’s impossible not to.

That team did the unthinkable: After years of heartbreak and good-but-not-great or great-but-not-elite, it was the one to get over the hump. And so of course it holds special significance for the program and for Georgia fans everywhere.

But we take it a step further. We compare the 2 as if it has any bearing on the future.

Is this defense as good as last year’s? Can Jalen Carter measure up to Jordan Davis? Is Kenny McIntosh on the same level as James Cook? Could he be a step above? And what about Stetson Bennett IV? How can he compare to the version we saw in the College Football Playoff a year ago?

Is this team good enough to run through the postseason gauntlet like it did a year ago? Can it, perhaps, even do better and complete a perfect season? What happens if it loses to LSU in the SEC Championship Game, as the 2021 team lost to Alabama? Can it recover seamlessly like the team a year ago did?

The comparisons are all there, and let me tell you, they’re not healthy. Or relevant.

2022 is not 2021. The defense this year probably isn’t as good as the one from a year ago. But last year’s offense was probably a step behind this year’s when it’s at its best.

And neither of those things will have any impact whatsoever on whether Georgia can win a 2nd straight national championship.

All that matters right now is LSU and how this current team performs on Saturday.

These Dawgs have an opportunity to do something that every youngest sibling wants to do as they come of age. They can escape the shadow of their older siblings and forge a legacy of their own.

What that is remains to be seen. But there are certainly unique attributes of this 2022 team that have the potential to stand the test of time.

It’s the balance.

It’s rare to have a team so complete on both sides of the football, to rank in the top 10 nationally in a host of offensive and defensive categories or to have an identity as a team that can beat you both in a shootout and in a defensive grind.

It’s the imperfect perfection.

To watch the team make mistakes weekly and struggle at times, but to also be so positively dominant when push comes to shove, has been an incredibly rewarding experience. So rarely can a group show its relative lack of experience in 1 moment and become nearly unstoppable in another.

It’s the knowledge that despite all the success so far, the best might be yet to come for a group that hasn’t really been complete at any point for the majority of the season.

It’s the knowledge that your most important player, the quarterback Bennett, played a role of lovable underdog a year ago. He had the storybook ending of an improbable college career ending with a trophy hoisted at midfield. Until that wasn’t the end, and his character arc has shifted into one of unquestioned leader and tone-setter for the No. 1 team in the country.

Whatever storyline you prefer, that’s what we’re watching now in these next 3 games for the Dawgs — assuming, as I do, they get selected for the College Football Playoff regardless of what happens against LSU.

Last year was fun. This year might be more fun. They’re 2 separate teams, 2 separate legacies, 2 separate opportunities to do 2 special things.

The spotlight is on these guys now, and that spotlight is bright.