The Georgia Bulldogs could have arguably used a quarterback upgrade last season.
Carson Beck underperformed in 2024, throwing for 3,485 yards, 28 touchdowns and 12 interceptions before suffering a season-ending injury in the SEC Championship Game.
Beck’s performance wasn’t enough for him to jump to the NFL, but he did succeed in getting Miami to pay him appropriately $4 million for the upcoming season.
Stewart Mandel of The Athletic is worried about Beck’s replacement at Georgia in 2025, Gunner Stockton. He was “surprised” that head coach Kirby Smart didn’t upgrade at quarterback after losing to Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal.
“There’s one position I’m surprised he did not try to upgrade: quarterback,” Mandel wrote. Georgia has a lot riding on Gunner Stockton, who, after understandably struggling in relief of Carson Beck in the SEC Championship Game against Texas (off the bench), went 20-of-32 for 234 yards, one touchdown and no picks against Notre Dame.
“That game was effectively over once the Irish scored on a strip-sack of Stockton just before halftime, then returned the opening kick of the second half to go up 20-3. Stockton was sacked four times, fumbled twice and spent much of the game throwing underneath. But he connected with Arian Smith on a 67-yard deep ball and threw a 32-yard TD to a wide-open Cash Jones on a wheel route.
“If those two throws were indicative of what Stockton can do with a better supporting cast and another year in the system, then Georgia will make me look silly for even entertaining the idea of a slip. But if the rest of that game, and the Texas game before it, were more representative of his ceiling, then it wouldn’t be a total shock if this preseason top-five team was out of the running by the end of October.”
Stockton, a six-foot-one, 215-pound junior from Tiger, Georgia, didn’t look impressive against Texas or Notre Dame, two stiff defenses that made deep CFP runs last year. He was used more as a game manager, and that won’t be helpful come December.
Unless Stockton shows massive improvement this season, Georgia could miss out on a chance to make the CFP by Thanksgiving. The Bulldogs have to play tough SEC foes like Tennessee, Alabama, Ole Miss, Florida and Texas by Nov. 15.
Stockton doesn’t have much room for error, and it’s curious why Smart didn’t look to the transfer portal to find an experienced quarterback better suited to take on a tough SEC schedule.
