So let me get this straight. This is where the Georgia dynasty in the making ends because a tight end may or may not be out for the remainder of the season?

A tight end?

Have we not learned, over and over, championship teams are built around quarterbacks who do rare things. Not tight ends.

Georgia doesn’t beat Alabama in the 2021 national championship game without a handful of big plays from quarterback Stetson Bennett IV. And it doesn’t beat Ohio State in the 2022 Playoff semifinal without a huge 4th quarter from Bennett.

No matter how elite those Georgia defenses were. Or its tight end was/is.

If Georgia wins a 3rd straight national championship, it will be because of quarterback Carson Beck. Not if Brock Bowers makes it back from an ankle injury.

“It’s something I dreamed of my whole life,” Beck said earlier this month.

An injury to a tight end isn’t going to derail it.

As Beck returns to his hometown Jacksonville on Saturday, it’s more than playing in a bitter rivalry against Florida, or playing in the same stadium as his college and professional heroes.

It’s more than hundreds of friends and family getting to see him play live for the first time, or running out of the tunnel and through that kaleidoscope of colors and into a 3-hour Cocktail Party carnival so unique, it has its own Hall of Fame.

This is about playing football at a high level. About a turn to the 2nd half of the season that Georgia has dominated the past 2 years, a springboard into back-to-back national championships.

The Bulldogs are 15-1 in the past 2 seasons from this game forward, losing only to Alabama in the 2021 SEC Championship Game and outscoring opponents by an average of 39-16.

The bar is beating teams by an average of 23 points a game. The only way Georgia reaches it is with Beck’s continued development from game manager earlier in the season to difference-maker now.

“I’d like to say that all the work that I’ve put in has me me built for these different moments that we’re experiencing throughout the season,” Beck said. “And there will continue to be more moments.”

Spoken like a quarterback who understands his value. Give him the ball, get out of the way.

It’s not like Georgia has been struggling at the most important position on the field this season, anyway. The offense under former-turned-new offensive coordinator Mike Bobo is eerily similar to what it was under former OC Todd Monken.

The points per game (40.1) are a tick under 2022 (41.7), but the long plays from scrimmage (10+ yards) are a smidge over (18.2 per game) from 2022 (18.1). More intriguing, 3rd-down conversion rate has significantly increased from 51% to a whopping 57.1 — meaning, nearly 6 out of 10 times the offense is facing 3rd down, it converts.

You’re going to win a lot of games with those numbers, and maybe even a historic 3rd consecutive national championship.

I don’t want to minimize Bowers, who is a rare player. But Georgia has numerous weapons at wide receiver and frankly, still a strong option at tight end in Oscar Delp.

Wideout Ladd McConkey, the deep speed the offense has lacked for much of the season, is completely healthy from a lingering back injury and will change the way Bobo and Beck attack defenses. Frankly, it would’ve changed the way things were done even if Bowers were healthy.

McConkey is that good, and the offense is that much better when he’s healthy and available. You don’t have a roster full of 4- and 5-star recruits who desperately want to play and show out — and suddenly panic about losing 1 player.

Especially when the guy leading the offense is primed for a huge 2nd half of the season.

“Carson is playing at an ultra-high level right now,” former Georgia All-SEC quarterback and current radio analyst Eric Zeier said. “His confidence is growing every time he steps on the field. Bobo put the game on his shoulders, and he went from good to elite.”

Now is the time to show it. Bennett was plodding along last season, with 12 TDs (5 rush) and 1 INT heading into the Cocktail Party.

He was solid, he was managing the game and Georgia was knocking out wins. Then the Florida game arrived, and everything changed.

Over the next 8 games, Bennett had 25 TDs (5 rush) — including 17 TDs (4 rush) and only 1 INT in games against ranked teams.

These are the moments where Beck evolves into something unique at Georgia. Where a solid season (15 total TDs, 4 INTs) blossoms into the rare.

Earlier this week, Georgia coach Kirby Smart was asked how the offense would adapt to the loss of Bowers with an increasingly difficult stretch of games ahead.

“Our offense,” Smart said, iIs not built around 1 person doing 1 thing.”

It’s not built around the tight end, everyone.

But you better believe it’s built around Beck moving forward.