Georgia football is gearing up for their quarterfinal matchup in the College Football Playoff, and arguably the biggest challenge that Kirby Smart and UGA face in their preparations is getting backup QB Gunner Stockton ready to play in place of an injured Carson Beck who was officially ruled out on Thursday.
So now that everyone knows Stockton will be the starter for Georgia throughout the CFP, the discussions for the next two weeks will be centered around if Stockton is capable of leading Georgia to a National Championship. While some fans and teammates are confident he can do just that, others do not like Georgia's chances going forward.
And that includes former UGA quarterback Aaron Murray, who ranked Stockton dead last out of the 12 starting QBs in the College Football Playoff.
Does Gunner Stockton deserve this hate?
To be fair to Murray, Stockton does deserve to be pretty low on this list. That doesn't mean he isn't a very good player, he is just yet to prove it on the field like the rest of the QBs.
But Stockton does deserve more respect than this after his performance in the SEC Championship game. Was he elite during the second half when he was on the field? Not at all. But any QB deserves a ton of credit for leading their team to a come from behind from behind victory against a defense as good as Texas.
Stockton also was an elite recruit coming out of high school as well. Sure he still has to prove it on the field, but he deserves respect for being the No. 110 player in the country in his class.
Thankfully Stockton will have every chance to prove people like Murray wrong, beginning with the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1. And all of these doubters will likely be singing his praises a month from now if he is able to lead Georgia to their third National Championship in four years.