Saturday is the unofficial kickoff to Georgia’s second straight title defense.

The Bulldogs will play their annual G-Day game at 4 p.m. ET Saturday in Sanford Stadium, giving fans their first look at a team that will try for a third consecutive national championship.

There are plenty of storylines, of course. How does the offensive line shake out? How different is Mike Bobo’s offense than departed offensive coordinator Todd Monken? How will new mascot Uga XI (given name “Boom”) handle the spotlight?

None of these compares to the one on everyone’s mind: Who will win Georgia’s starting quarterback job?

No question holds as much weight heading into 2023 as that one. The Bulldogs are likely to have another elite defense. The skill position is chockful of proven weapons. I think it’s clear to anyone that follows this team that it has everything it takes to win a championship again this season — just a big question mark sitting under center.

Today, we’re looking at the 5 biggest storylines to follow in Georgia’s spring game, and the aforementioned question is so important that it got the first 3 slots.

1. Carson Beck

There are no guarantees in Athens, Ga. Not when your team is a 2-time defending national champion trying to chase down an unprecedented threepeat.

So Beck has been the No. 2 quarterback on the roster for back-to-back seasons and shown flashes of big-game ability in limited mop-up duty behind departed signal-caller Stetson Bennett IV last season?

So what?

This is the University of Georgia, folks, and nothing comes easy anymore.

With all of that said, Beck entered the quarterback race with a bit of a head start. He has played in 10 games over the past 2 seasons, completing 36 of 58 passes for 486 yards and 6 touchdowns. He knows the offense well and, perhaps more importantly, his receivers have at least gotten to know him a bit, too.

He’s big. At 6-foot-4, he has a powerful right arm that can stretch defenses and fit balls into tight windows. He has an NFL-caliber throwing arm if — and it’s a big if — he can harness it and make good decisions.

So what does he have left to prove that he’s the man to take the Bulldogs into their 2023 title pursuit?

Well, there’s a bit of recency bias to this that I think the coaches don’t want to give up on just yet. Beck’s wheels aren’t terrible, but he can’t move like Bennett, and that’s an attractive quality the Georgia coaches are likely slow to give up on. Bennett extended plays, outran secondaries and forced opposing linebackers to freeze for just long enough to fit passes to Brock Bowers and Darnell Washington and Kenny McIntosh at midrange.

Can Beck show enough with his arm — or legs — to assuage any concerns coaches might have about limiting the offense’s versatility?

2. Brock Vandagriff

If this race were to be won by potential, Vandagriff would probably be the guy.

Everything we just discussed about the running ability is what makes him an attractive option for the Bulldogs. He has a similar mobility to Bennett in that he can run and extend plays, but he can also be deceptively shifty when he gets outside the pocket.

And he does it despite being a prototypical size for a quarterback. Whereas Bennett often looked like a Mighty Mite lost amidst the Doomsday Defense, Vandagriff combines size, speed and a strong throwing arm.

Read that, and it sounds like Georgia coaches might be inclined to lean his way come September, no?

The problem is that we just haven’t seen what he can do live. The coaches see it in practice, sure, but that isn’t truly live, and he hasn’t been running with the ones until this spring. Vandagriff has thrown 3 passes in his 2 seasons in Athens, and he has yet to complete 1.

Would you really be that confident turning the wheel of your Rolls-Royce over to a pockmarked 16-year-old who hasn’t driven outside of the parking lot?

Perhaps an extreme comparison, but you get the drift.

What we’ll need to see from Vandagriff is proof that he can command an offense, make good decisions and read defenses, and that his legs are just good enough to give him a boost over Beck.

3. Gunner Stockton

The dark horse. The forgotten contender. The best option?

If you’re betting on which of the 3 Georgia quarterbacks ultimately wins the job, the long odds are certainly on Stockton. He showed up in Athens last season as an All-America prospect but spent the entirety of the year buried at No. 4 on the depth chart.

He never saw game action and, quite honestly, we don’t really know what he’s capable if given the opportunity.

That’ll change on Saturday.

While Beck and Vandagriff are running with the ones, Stockton hasn’t made a move up the charts just yet. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have the tools to compete.

He’s got okay size at 6-foot-1 and 220 pounds and, like Vandagriff, good mobility. He worked on the scout team a year ago, so he got plenty of experience going against a top-flight defense. That is, after all, the route Bennett took to eventually win over the Georgia coaching staff.

Who’s to say that Stockton can’t, too, be the surprise out-of-left-field selection to run the offense like his predecessor?

In all likelihood, what we’re looking to see from Stockton is a capability to make the throws. Show us enough to feel confident that if either Beck or Vandagriff were to transfer out of Athens after losing the starting job, you’re good enough to be a reliable No. 2.

4. The freshmen

With the influx of early enrollees playing in spring games over the past decade or so, I’m one who is always extremely excited to see what the new blood can do. Many don’t get a chance to play significantly in their first year on campus — even if they come in with 5 stars and a slew of prep accolades.

But on Saturday, we can catch a glimpse of a few and start to see who might contribute, who might need some time to develop and who, like Malaki Starks a season ago, might be ready to become a star from Day 1.

Safety Joenel Aguero intrigues me, as do cornerback A.J. Harris and edge Samuel M’Pemba. Running back Roderick Robinson might be most interesting because of his potential to shake up a talented but unsettled tailback room. And tight end Lawson Luckie has already been getting praise as the next elite tight end at the new TEU.

5. The transfers

The Bulldogs took on 3 transfers in the most recent signing class: cornerback Smoke Bouie, formerly of Texas A&M, and receivers RaRa Thomas and Dominic Lovett.

Lovett was an important piece for Georgia, which anticipated the transfer of star receiver A.D. Mitchell following the national championship win in January. Mitchell landed at the University of Texas, where he can be closer to his family.

Lovett comes in as an accomplished receiver, having caught 56 passes for 846 yards and 3 touchdowns at Missouri a year ago. He isn’t the same type of receiver as Mitchell, but he adds a different dynamic to the Georgia offense. Just what that dynamic is will be on display on Saturday.

Thomas, who had a felony warrant dismissed in March, fits more into Mitchell’s role. At 6-foot-2, he caught 44 passes for 626 yards and 7 touchdowns a year ago. His emergence as an outside threat could be crucial for the Georgia passers.

Bouie was a member of the heralded 2022 Texas A&M recruiting class, which has seen a handful of defections since the 2022 season came to a close. An incredibly talented defensive back, he has practiced at cornerback, star and safety during the spring. With Starks, Javon Bullard, Kamari Lassiter, Dayen Everette, Dan Jackson Tykee Smith and more all vying for playing time in 2023, it’s a crowded competition.

We will get our first look at where Bouie fits into that competition on Saturday.