The Mississippi State Bulldogs were the SEC’s ultimate winners this offseason upon learning first-team All-SEC quarterback Dak Prescott had chosen to forgo an early entrance into the NFL in lieu of playing out his senior season in Starkville.

Prescott is arguably the greatest Bulldog of all-time, and his junior season in 2014 was arguably the greatest single season by a Bulldog in more than 100 years of Mississippi State football. Not only was Prescott voted as the SEC’s top quarterback by the league’s coaches and the media, but he set school records for yards and touchdowns, ran for more than 800 yards for the second year in a row and earned more Heisman votes than any Mississippi State star ever.

He led the Bulldogs to just their second 10-win season in more than 70 years and elevated the program to its first No. 1 ranking in history, one it would maintain for more than a month uninterrupted.

But even if Prescott manages to outdo himself in 2015, it will be his last chance to don MSU’s maroon. This season truly is Prescott’s swan song before he moves on to an NFL career, and when he leaves town, the biggest question plaguing fans in Starkville will be how do we move on without Dak, and who’s going to replace him?

Every college program has had to move on when a star player eventually graduates, so this concept is nothing unique to Mississippi State. However, few programs in America have had a player in the last 20 years as pivotal to the program as Dak was to the Bulldogs. He’s going to leave bigger shoes to fill than most.

Luckily for Mississippi State, they may already have their replacement for Prescott on the roster. And it might not be the player you’re thinking.

Damian Williams has backed up Prescott for two seasons now, and he has the most live experience behind Prescott of any quarterbacks on the roster. He’ll be a senior by the time Prescott moves on in 2016, so his best-case scenario involves starting for one season a year from now. Williams is a fine player and is among the better backups in the SEC, but he’s not the future.

The Bulldogs’ future rests in the right arm of Nick Fitzgerald. After this season comes and goes, Fitzgerald will still have three years of eligibility remaining. Even if he was to sit for another year while Williams took his turn under center, Fitzgerald would still have the benefit of two full years as the starter.

The way he’s looked this spring, he may be Prescott’s immediate successor in 2016. He was a solid 21 of 39 passing for 263 yards and a pair of touchdowns in leading the second-team offense through last weekend’s intrasquad scrimmage, and he’s taken most of the No. 2 reps this spring while Williams battles a pectoral injury. He was 23 of 34 passing for 247 yards in another scrimmage earlier this spring.

“Right now he’d be a snap away from being in the first team offense,” head coach Dan Mullen told The Dispatch newspaper regarding Fitzgerald. “We want to give him an opportunity to roll with that crew and just see how it went, how he performed.”

Fitzgerald has looked sharp and poised in the pocket, and many have said he has a stronger arm than Prescott. His propensity to tuck and run at the first sign of trouble has waned, and his command of the offense has grown tremendously after using his redshirt year to learn the offense inside and out.

The redshirt freshman appears mentally prepared to take leadership of the team once Prescott moves on, and his accuracy and command this spring have shown he’s capable of serving as the face of the team when his time eventually comes.

Nevertheless, Fitzgerald is in no rush to begin his tenure as the starting quarterback. He understands the benefit of Prescott returning for another year, and intends to use this season to improve himself both mentally and physically as he continues to develop into an SEC signal caller.

“Everyone wants to play, but it’s really good to have a guy like him come back,” Fitzgerald said of Prescott’s return. “I get to really watch him and learn what he does. He has so much respect from the team. That’s something I have another year to build up before I’ll have a chance to start.”

Mullen has developed quarterbacks like Alex Smith, Tim Tebow and now Prescott during his career, and Fitzgerald could be the next in that line of star quarterbacks. He knows Mullen can mold him into a star, and he knows Prescott will leave behind a blueprint for success in Starkville. He’s patient, poised and most of all talented.

Mississippi State will hope to not need him this fall, but the Bulldogs also hope he’ll carry them through the years that follow. And according to his coaches, he’s capable of doing just that.

“I’m pleased with what I see out of Nick so far,” MSU head coach Dan Mullen said of Fitzgerald to the Jackson Clarion-Ledger. “He looks like a very, very different player, even (more) than he did in winter at bowl prep. You can see he’s invested in the offseason, investing in learning and knowing what’s going on out there on the field.”