ATHENS — Lawson Luckie is one of Georgia’s prime candidates for a break-out season, but the Bulldogs’ tight end has bigger goals in mind for Saturday.

Team goals, specifically, to fulfill Kirby Smart’s vision of Georgia opening the season with a strong performance in its 3:30 p.m. game with Marshall at Sanford Stadium.

“We just want to earn respect, I feel like,” said Luckie, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound junior who is one of seven Georgia players on the Senior Bowl’s 300-man watch list.

“One thing we’ve been talking about is first impressions -- you only get one chance to make a first impression, and that’s Saturday,” Luckie said. “We want to come out with our hats on fire, play as best as we can, show how connected we are, and show that all this grind we’ve gone through this whole offseason hasn’t been for nothing.”

Luckie has brought an aggressive approach from the time he arrived at Georgia as an early enrollee leading into the 2023 season, taking part in UGA’s College Football Playoff practices leading up to the Bulldogs second consecutive national championship.

Smart marveled at how fierce Luckie was in those drills.

“Nobody benefitted more from bowl practice than Lawson Luckie,” Smart said in the spring following Luckie’s arrival. “Blocked people on scout team, scout special teams. He jumped on seniors and fought them. He’s grown up a lot. He’s getting mature quickly.”

Luckie smiled when asked to recall how he went about making an early impression.

“I just feel like everyone when they first come in, especially me, just wanted to prove to myself and everybody that I belonged,” Luckie said, asked those physical practices among national championship players. “So I was trying to finish every play as hard as I can. I still am now, but I came in with a big chip on my shoulder that you want to be respected, you want to earn respect.

“Because when you first get here, no one’s going to respect you until you take it. That’s how it is anywhere. You got to take it before it’s given.”

Indeed, if anyone knows how to make a first impression on the football field, it’s Luckie.

Luckie is UGA’s second-leading returning receiver (24 catches, 348 yards) behind veteran wideout Dillon Bell (43 catches, 466 yards), but catching the football on Saturday is not what he’s looking forward to the most against the Thundering Herd.

“I’m excited to see us run the ball,” Luckie said. “We put in so much effort in getting better in the run game, and I’m excited to be able to see an opportunity for that to come to fruition.”

Luckie revealed another area where he has invested a great deal of time this offseason.

“I would say pass blocking has been a really big focus,” Luckie said. “Something we’ve started drilling a lot and making a big emphasis is being a strength in pass blocking, and that’s something we’ve really focused on, opposed from years past where it hasn’t been a big emphasis.”

Luckie is still a threat with the ball in his hands, however, as teammate Chris Cole explained in Tuesday night’s media conference.

“Since the first day I went against him, last year during spring practice, he’s definitely a high-effort guy,” Cole, a linebacker, said. “He helps me get better every single day just covering him. I mean, I feel like covering him, he’s one of the best tight ends to cover.”

Smart is proud of Luckie’s growth on and off the field, paying him the ultimate compliment on Tuesday night in describing the leadership traits the junior tight end possesses.

“He’s grown in confidence, he’s been around good players, he’s seen guys lead that room, (and) he was that way at Norcross — he was a leader,” Smart said. “He’s been a leader in his own home and he’s a great kid, and he’s not afraid to confront demanding guys. He’s not afraid to speak up, so I’m really proud of his growth and who he’s becoming as a man.”

Luckie shared the valuable lesson he learned from three-time All-American tight end and NFL rookie record-breaker Brock Bowers the season he trained and played with him at Georgia.

“One of my biggest takeaways from Brock is that it didn’t matter the drill, the period, whether it was two minutes to win the game, or whether it was a special teams, or an (individual) period, the kid refused to lose,” Luckie said.

“No matter how tired he was, no matter how late in the day, how early in the day, how hot it was, how cold it was, he didn’t care. All he cared about was winning, no matter who he was going against, and that’s my biggest takeaway from him.”

Luckie, it seems, is determined to play that lesson forward.