It's almost showtime.
When the Georgia Bulldogs conduct their first spring football practice Tuesday, five-star quarterback signee Jacob Eason instantly will be thrust under the microscope. The 6-foot-5, 215-pounder from Lake Stevens, Wash., already is the fan favorite after a 2015 season in which Greyson Lambert, Brice Ramsey and Faton Bauta failed to provide a quality aerial attack.
Eason, who enrolled at Georgia in January, enters the Bulldogs' 15 spring workouts with hopes of being their starter by the Sept. 3 opener against North Carolina at the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic in Atlanta.
"That's everybody's goal, and that would be my goal," Eason said last month, "but Greyson and Brice are good quarterbacks, too. I want to learn from them and learn from all the other coaches and just buy into the system, and then whatever happens will happen. I will be excited either way."
Bauta, who started last season's 27-3 loss to Florida, announced in December that he was transferring to Colorado State, where former Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo has been head coach since December 2014.
The Bulldogs now are under the guidance of coach Kirby Smart, who succeeds Mark Richt following Richt's 15 mostly successful seasons. Smart has many objectives in his first go-around, including the desire to temper expectations surrounding the heralded early enrollee.
"There is no pressure on him," Smart said of Eason. "He is coming straight out of high school and will have 15 practices this spring and then 27 or 28 in the fall to get him ready and prepared. You don't want him coming in here thinking he has to win this job, because there are some other guys here, too, who played some football last year.
"We've got to find what the best remedy for our offense is. That will be very important in spring practice, but to say that will all fall on Jacob is not the case. I would rather take that burden myself."
This past winter, Eason was rated by ESPN and Rivals.com as the top high school quarterback nationally after passing for 3,585 yards and 43 touchdowns (with just six interceptions) in his senior season at Lake Stevens.
Georgia had 2,406 passing yards last season, which ranked 10th among the Southeastern Conference's 14 teams. Lambert completed 162 of 256 passes (63.3 percent) for 1,959 yards with 12 touchdowns and two interceptions, and he won 10 of his 12 starts for the TaxSlayer Bowl champions.
"Greyson and Brice both hosted me a couple of times I came down here, but now I'm seeing them as college students and in the meeting room," Eason said. "They're great guys and are hard workers, and they have a goal of making the team better. I'm just trying to be the best that I can, and I'm trying to be a leader if I can be.
"The pressure is going be on everyone. We're all going to take an equal role, and once it all comes together, everyone is going to have pressure and expectations."
Rivals.com's top-rated quarterback signee of the 2015 class, UCLA's Josh Rosen, completed 292 of 487 passes (60.0 percent) for 3,669 yards last season for the Bruins. Whether Eason winds up being that busy later this year remains to be seen.
The first steps will be taken Tuesday.
"When he comes back in August, he won't be your normal true freshman," ESPN analyst Tom Luginbill said. "He's going to be the most physically gifted player at that position that they have. The question is whether he'll be the most prepared and ready.
"It may not matter. They may want to take their lumps and speed bumps and back this guy for the long haul, and I wouldn't be surprised if that happens."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.