Quarterback Brice Ramsey has decided to return to Georgia for his senior year after originally planning to transfer.

On the surface, it’s a relatively minor transaction in SEC circles. The Bulldogs are surely going to be led offensively by rising sophomore QB Jacob Eason, who owns the kind of uncommon arm talent that Ramsey simply doesn’t.

His first three seasons at UGA, Ramsey completed 45-of-74 passes (60.8 percent) for 582 yards with 4 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. All of the aforementioned numbers were accumulated in reserve duty, as he is yet to make a start for the Dawgs. He’s actually made more of an impact in Athens punting (38.7-yard average) than passing.

He gives second-year coach Kirby Smart an experienced backup field general. That's a luxury in today's environment.

Nevertheless, he gives second-year coach Kirby Smart an experienced backup field general. That’s a luxury in today’s environment.

“Brice has committed to finishing out his time at the University of Georgia,” his mother, Yolanda Ramsey, told 247Sports on Thursday. “After visiting and talking with other schools, he could not get past the part of where his heart was, and that is at UGA at the end of the day.”

With Ramsey out of the picture at the time, Georgia’s spring game in April was somewhat curiously billed as a battle between the incumbent Eason and perhaps his eventual successor, early-enrollee freshman Jake Fromm.

While Eason may have thrown for 311 yards, he was erratic during his 16-of-36 performance. Yes, he registered 2 touchdown passes, but he was intercepted once and sacked an alarming 5 times. Not what Georgia had in mind, especially after Eason’s up-and-down debut season and a porous offensive line showing little improvement.

Fromm (below), on the other hand, was an impressive 14-of-23 for 277 yards with 1 TD and 0 INTs, plus he was only sacked once.

Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

That being said, with Eason presumably atop the depth chart for at least two more campaigns until he declares for the NFL Draft, it would make a lot of sense to put some extra distance between him and Fromm from an eligibility perspective.

Even if Fromm looked ready to contribute immediately out of high school, G-Day in the spring isn’t the same as Saturday in the fall. We don’t yet to know how he’ll react when he’s facing Florida’s relentless pass rush, as opposed to teammates in a two-hand-touch setting. It’s apples and oranges, to say the least.

With Ramsey as the No. 2, Fromm can now redshirt and possibly be that much better once he succeeds Eason.

If that turns out to be the case, then Smart will possess one of the few battle-tested backup signal callers in the conference. Especially behind that O-line, Eason is but a snap away from concussion protocol.

Ramsey doesn’t have a bunch of starts under his belt, but his hand has been stamped in league play. He’s thrown passes against the likes of Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Missouri and Vanderbilt, plus a couple of bowls vs. Louisville and Penn State. If he’s called upon, there’s no reason for his blood pressure to spike.

"Brice has committed to finishing out his time at the University of Georgia. After visiting and talking with other schools, he could not get past the part of where his heart was, and that is at UGA at the end of the day." -- Yolanda Ramsey

With so many quarterbacks tranferring in and out of programs these days, veteran reserves are going the way of the dodo bird.

The Bulldogs’ top rival in the East, Florida, is one of the lucky ones. All signs point to Feleipe Franks getting the nod, but Luke Del Rio is still in Gainesville. If Franks fails, at least Del Rio has done it before.

That’s not the case for the other blue blood in the division, Tennessee. Based on what transpired in the spring, Quinten Dormady will likely win his competition with Jarrett Guarantano. Dormady backed up Joshua Dobbs for two years, so he’s not green. But the next play Guarantano runs will be his first.

Jake Bentley looks like the real deal at South Carolina. However, No. 2 Michael Scarnecchia has one career pass attempt.

That’s one more than any of Missouri’s backup QBs, though. Behind Drew Lock are Jack Lowary, Hayden Rymer and Micah Wilson — a redshirt sophomore and two redshirt freshmen, respectively. Not one has thrown a pass that counts.

Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The situation at Kentucky is relatively unique. Last season’s Week 1 starter, Drew Barker (above), hurt his back and was forced to sit and watch Stephen Johnson at the controls. Barker was the more heralded recruit, but Johnson helped guide the Wildcats to a bowl game. Coach Mark Stoops should feel pretty confident in both of them.

Wade Freebeck is there at Vanderbilt if something happens to Kyle Shurmur. He’s played but has a TD-to-INT ratio of 1-to-7.

In the West, the only projected clipboard holders with real stripes are Auburn’s Sean White and Texas A&M’s Jake Hubenak. True freshmen like Tua Tagovailoa at Alabama and Keytaon Thompson at Mississippi State better be ready.

If Eason were to go down, Ramsey is quite capable of keeping the offense afloat, whether it's for a series or a month.

It wasn’t that long ago when Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban had four scholarship signal callers on his roster, each rated 4-stars or better. But once Jalen Hurts became the SEC’s Offensive Player of the Year as a true freshman, Blake Barnett, Cooper Bateman and David Cornwell all bolted.

Tagovailoa certainly seems to be more gifted than Barnett, Bateman or Cornwell, but he doesn’t have an ounce of seasoning.

Back between the hedges, many UGA fans don’t want to see Fromm redshirted. Unconvinced that Eason can live up to his considerable hype, they wouldn’t mind Fromm pushing — and passing — Eason on the depth chart.

That might be a little overly aggressive of a move for Smart, though. After all, if the Dawgs are going to win the East in 2017, most likely it’ll be the running game and defense leading the way. And if Eason were to go down, Ramsey is quite capable of keeping the offense afloat, whether it’s for a series or a month.

Ramsey pondered leaving to be a big fish in a small pond. Upon second thought, he’s perfectly comfortable in these waters.