Everyone outside of Georgia is doubting quarterback Gunner Stockton heading into the 2025 season. Just this week, ESPN's Paul Finebaum attacked the UGA quarterback saying that he showed him nothing during the College Football Playoff that gives him any confidence entering this season.
Sure Stockton didn't perform as well as anyone wanted in Georgia's CFP loss to Notre Dame, but writing him off after one career start seems a bit harsh.
Now that the college football season is less than 100 days away, the discourse surrounding the upcoming season is continuing to increase. To no one's surprise, a lot of that conversation surrounds the quarterback position and who is projected to have a great season and who might struggle. Stockton was recently ranked the No. 12 quarterback in the SEC alone, which many Georgia fans feel is far too low. But this ranking makes even less sense when comparing Stockton to who 247Sports ranked as their No. 2 quarterback in the SEC.
Stockton deserves as much attention as Arch Manning is receiving
The No. 2 QB in the SEC entering the 2025 season according to 247Sports is Texas quarterback Arch Manning. Manning is even ranked higher according to other outlets, with some naming him the Hesiman favorite and No. 1 quarterback in the country.
But does Manning deserve this much hype? Does he even deserve more hype than Stockton right now?
Manning does have a few things going in his favor, with his last name and being the No. 1 recruit in the 2023 class being the two things that jump out the most. But when looking at actual data from his time on the field in college compared to Stockton's, it's hard to see where the big gap is between these two quarterbacks like the media suggests.
To be fair to both Stockton and Manning, their stats in college are very limited at this point in their careers, but that is the biggest reason why Manning doesn't deserve the hype he is receiving. But if Manning is going to receive this much hype, then Stockton deserves it as well because his stats against ranked opponents is far better than Manning so far in their careers.
It's also worth mentioning that Stockton led Georgia to a come from behind victory in the SEC Championship game against Texas this past season as well.
At the end of the day, offseason hype means absolutely nothing, and it's likely that everyone doubting Stockton will only help him and Georgia as a whole entering this season. But this is just another example of college football "experts" hyping up players for all the wrong reasons.