Georgia football has quite the offseason battle looming in Athens. After Carson Beck shockingly decided to transfer to Miami (FL) last month, that put Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs in a place where they now have to prepare to start a new QB in the fall.
The obvious choice to become the starter is Gunner Stockton, who replaced Beck for one and a half games after he was injured during the SEC Championship game. But that “obvious” choice may not be so obvious in reality.
Georgia has another option in their quarterback room who is more than capable of becoming the starter this fall. That player is Ryan Puglisi.
Puglisi was a member of the 2024 recruiting class and he was the No. 10 QB in the country in that class. This past season was Puglisi’s first in college and he unfortunately did not see the field at all, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t a capable player. In fact, many reports have come out discussing how impressive he was all year in practice. So that tells us that there will likely be a heated battle between him and Stockton this offseason to see who becomes the starter.
However, a recent quote from Puglisi shows that even though this competition will be fierce, he has nothing but respect for Stockton.
“I love everything about him (Stockton),” Puglisi shared via dawgpost.com. “He handles his business in a professional way. He’s been the same person day in and day out. Being able to learn from him has been amazing.”
Puglisi has elite leadership qualities
One of the things that stood out about Stockton when he took over for Beck was his leadership qualities on the field. It was abundantly clear how much more vocal of a leader Stockton was the second he took the field this year, and it’s that leadership that many think will give him an edge over Puglisi this offseason.
This quote from Puglisi however shows that he is a great leader too. This shows that even though Puglisi knows he will have to battle Stockton every day this offseason, he still cares about him and knows he can learn a lot from him.
Some Georgia fans might be nervous heading into the fall because UGA will have to start a new QB, but maybe there is no reason to be nervous at all. Both players appear more than ready both on the field and as a leader to take control of the offense, so whoever ends up winning this competition this offseason will 100 percent have earned it.