ATHENS, Ga. -- It doesn't matter if you're a Georgia coach, fan, or beat writer, you're probably chomping at the bit to see what Zamir White can do.

The 6-foot 215-pound running back arrived in Athens in January of 2018, early on in his recovery from an torn ACL suffered at the end of his high school football career. He made it back from that injury in time to be cleared for preseason camp a year ago, but suffered another torn ACL in the opposite knee shortly thereafter.

Kirby Smart has been asked about the former five-star running back multiple times since the end of the 2018 season where he has expressed excitement about his return but also that he doesn't have any idea when that will be.

He had a chance to comment on it again on Friday as the Bulldogs open 2019 preseason camp.

"Zamir's cleared," Smart said. "So, again, we'll do everything like normal. He'll be thudded (hit but not tackled to the ground) just like every other back will be thudded and we'll progress from there. We don't tackle live mostly until the first scrimmage."

White wasn't just your typical talented running back at the high school level. Some, including this reporter, viewed him as a potential generational talent. He shredded the competition at Scotland County (Laurinberg, N.C.) for four years, racking up 7,169 rushing yards and 119 touchdowns on 739 carries. Over the course of those four years, he piled up four seasons of 1,200 rushing yards or more and averaged a whopping 9.7 yards per carrie. As a senior, he was averaging an unthinkable 14.1 yards per carry before suffering the torn ACL.

He benefits by the fact that both knee injuries were ACL only. Neither were accompanied by the secondary injuries like a torn meniscus or torn PCL that often occur. Just like spring practice in 2018, White was participating with the team in a non-contact capacity. He went through play-polish (handoffs against air) drills with the other running backs, caught passes, and did cutting and agility drills with his position mates.

Smart, like reporters and fans, saw those things and got pretty fired up while watching White in action, but he has taken the wait-and-see approach for quite some time.

"I'm excited every time I get to see him at workouts," Smart said at SEC Media Days. We are doing workouts with our players right now. Agilities, four stations, five stations. Seeing him get out there and doing whether it's cone to cone, cutting on something, it excites me seeing him do that because I know what he's been through. Seeing him do it, and a lot of good players have been through that. Whether its Robert Edwards, Nick Chubb, Todd Gurley, they've all reached out and talked to him about that. He's on the upward stride of that hump."