Find someone who loves you as much as ESPN's Bill Connelly loves college quarterbacks who throw the deep ball effectively. For well over a year now, it has been his biggest bugaboo when it comes to appreciating the art of what makes Gunner Stockton special at Georgia. The star quarterback of the Georgia Bulldogs plays in a similar manner to what made Cam Newton so legendary over at Auburn.
Yet for some reason, Connelly believes Stockton is the eighth-best quarterback in the Power Four...
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback CJ Carr
- Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Julian Sayin
- Ole Miss Rebels quarterback Trinidad Chambliss
- Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning
- USC Trojans quarterback Jayden Maiava
- Oregon Ducks quarterback Dante Moore
- Oklahoma State Cowboys quarterback Drew Mestemaker
- Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Gunner Stockton
- Texas Tech Red Raiders quarterback Brendan Sorsby
- Auburn Tigers quarterback Byrum Brown
Look. This is not about tearing down the analytics fever dream Connelly put forth about these quarterbacks at the top of the Power Four. Let's just say only one quarterback ranked inside of his top 10 has ever won a conference championship before. That would be Stockton. While he should not be ranked No. 1, one could easily argue for Stockton being inside of the top five instead of only at No. 8..
Once again, Connelly only seems to care about the fact that Stockton does not throw the deep ball...
"We've seen lots of college football offenses called 'basketball on grass' through the years, and we've seen quarterbacks referred to as point guards even more. But Stockton is a damn point guard. A whopping 38.6 percent of his passes were thrown at or behind the line of scrimmage, and only 13.7 percent, about one in seven, were 20-yarders."
For him to say Georgia runs a service academy offense with Stockton is insulting to our intelligence.
Gunner Stockton grossly overlooked among the best QBs in the country
Again, we are not going to crumple up Connelly's list and throw it into the trash can like it is a bit of loose-leaf paper in grade school. This is about understanding and appreciating what Stockton does within the context of the Georgia offense. Part of the reason so many of his passes were at or behind the line of scrimmage was because Mike Bobo loved to call screen plays for one Zachariah Branch.
Yes, Stockton has to get better with his downfield accuracy. Then again, last year was only his first season as the Georgia starter. The Bulldogs played one of the most difficult schedules in the country. Its only two losses on the season came to teams it had to play twice. While it beat Alabama in the rematch in the SEC Championship, Glenn Schumann's defense unraveled vs. Ole Miss in the playoff...
Part of what made last season's team so much fun to watch and cover was the nature that this was not one of the most talented teams in recent Georgia memory. How many first-round picks will Georgia have this spring? Maybe two. Exactly... Stockton and the guys had to overcome a talent deficiency in many ways. Many of his deep balls were dropped by younger, inexperienced receivers.
In the end, Stockton starting out spring practice in the No. 8 position is far better than where he was midway through last season in Connelly's eyes. We are talking about a player who finished inside the top 10 in Heisman Trophy voting. He might not win it this season, as there are many other high-quality quarterbacks scattered across the Power Four. However, very few can win like Stockton is capable of.
Even if Stockton averaged 12 yards per passing attempt, Connelly would still find a way to dock him.