Jacob Eason didn't ascend rapidly to the role of Georgia's starting quarterback last year by focusing on the depth chart.
That's still the plan in the second preseason camp for the 6-foot-5, 235-pound sophomore, who is taking first-team snaps with touted freshman Jake Fromm as his backup and fifth-year senior Brice Ramsey third in line.
"You still treat every day like it's a competition, so I'm still going to prepare the same way," Eason said Monday evening in his first news conference since the spring. "Obviously, this year I'm a little more in tune with our offense. I'm preparing the same way, but it's with a little more knowledge."
And with a little more familiarity with second-year offensive coordinator Jim Chaney, who is trying to provide polish to the ability Eason possesses.
The Bulldogs held their seventh preseason practice Monday afternoon, working out for two hours in full pads.
"There is not much he can't do when it comes to throwing a football," Chaney said this past weekend in a news conference. "He's a talented young man. Every day he works on more and more things with changing plays and having more freedom.
"He is not Drew Brees. He's not in his 16th or 18th year. He can't call the whole ballgame, but he's learning more and he's getting more power within the offense as we go."
Eason arrived at Georgia as the nation's No. 1 quarterback recruit in the 2016 signing class, according to ESPN and Rivals.com, and vied last August with Ramsey and fifth-year senior and Virginia transfer Greyson Lambert. Lambert started the opening win over North Carolina in Atlanta, but Eason replaced him before the second game.
Lambert won't go down as the greatest quarterback in Georgia history, but he did win 10 of 12 starts with the Bulldogs in 2015 and set an NCAA single-game efficiency standard that year in a 52-20 thumping of South Carolina.
Last season, Eason wasn't overly accurate, completing 204 of 370 passes (55.1 percent) for 2,430 yards with 16 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He threw for 346 yards in the 17-16 loss to Vanderbilt and had 308 in the 28-27 win at Missouri, including a 20-yard touchdown to Isaiah McKenzie on fourth-and-10 with 1:29 remaining.
Yet Eason was just 5-of-17 for 29 passing yards in the windy win at South Carolina, when Nick Chubb and Sony Michel combined for 254 rushing yards, and he went four straight games without an interception but had two in the 28-27 loss to Georgia Tech.
It was a grab bag of performances in Georgia's 8-5 season, and Eason has moved forward working on everything, including his mechanics.
"I think that every quarterback has to work on that," Chaney said. "It's like a golfer's swing. You can go out in the practice round and have the prettiest swing on earth, but when the pressure hits, how are you going to handle it? Taller guys tend to be a little Bambi-ish, because they're longer-limbed.
"The taller you are, the harder it is to get your base under you, and he's worked on that all offseason and all summer. I think he's done a good job."
Eason said he has gotten to know Chaney's "more personal side" since the end of last season. The two joke more, he added, but there are definitely times when things become serious.
"He's hard on me, but I know it's for my own good," Eason said. "That's the thing you want out of a coach."
Eason also received advice this summer at the Manning Passing Academy from former Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning, who talked to him about the challenges of being the quarterback at a big-time Southeastern Conference program. He is not placing statistical goals on the upcoming season, at least not publicly, adding that he just wants to play as hard as possible and get the ball into the hands of his playmakers.
There is also the matter of Fromm, who Eason believes can be every bit as beneficial to him as Chaney.
"Jake's a brilliant, smart kid," Eason said. "It's good to have a guy like that who will challenge you in the film room and on the field."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.