The last few weeks have been incredibly kind to Gunner Stockton's quarterback narrative. After playing decently in Georgia's lone loss of the season to Alabama, Stockton has helped the Bulldogs rattle off five wins in a row in SEC play to emerge as every bit the College Football Playoff lock. Stockton has looked the part vs. Kentucky, Auburn, Ole Miss, Florida and now Mississippi State.
While he may not win the Heisman Trophy, at least he is a Maxwell Award semifinalist. Although that one close loss is being held unfairly against him, even those who believe analytics are the end-all, be-all are starting to respect Stockton's one-of-a-kind game. ESPN's Bill Connelly has been thoroughly impressed by what Stockton has done in recent weeks, as illustrated by where he has him ranked.
Here is the top 10 of his Power Four quarterback re-ranking after two months of the 2025 season.
- Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Julian Sayin (11th)
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets quarterback Haynes King (29th)
- Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza (4th)
- Vanderbilt Commodores quarterback Diego Pavia (2nd)
- USC Trojans quarterback Jayden Maiava (1st)
- Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Gunner Stockton (20th)
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback CJ Carr (7th)
- Ole Miss Rebels quarterback Trinidad Chambliss (3rd)
- Cincinnati Bearcats quarterback Brendan Sorsby (6th)
- Arkansas Razorbacks quarterback Taylen Green (14th)
Connelly moved Stockton up 14 spots from No. 20 to No. 6. His thoughts on Stockton are worthwhile.
"At this point, the only thing he's missing is a deep ball (or someone to catch one). He's third in Total QBR, he has thrown just two picks, and on passes thrown under 15 yards downfield his completion rate is 79 percent (fifth). He's at only 36 percent (108th) on longer passes, however, and Georgia lacks in the big-play department. Still, the Bulldogs are efficient, and in part because of Stockton's legs, they're nearly perfect in the red zone."
Frankly, the only thing Stockton can do to become a more perfect player is get better at the deep ball.
Gunner Stockton is well on his way to being an all-timer for Georgia
The best part about Connelly's blurb about Stockton is that he is not putting the lack of a great deep ball entirely on him. He needs a better deep-threat receiver to come up with it. To be quite frank, had Talyn Taylor come up with that deep pass in the Alabama game, Stockton might be the Heisman Trophy favorite, quarterbacking the No. 1 team in the land. Georgia wide receivers are what they are...
Overall, Stockton's proficiencies in the red zone ar eone of the reasons why he is such a trusted quarterback in the college game today. When Georgia is goal-to-go, the Dawgs are almost always punching it in because of the threat of Stockton's legs. He is also very accurate as a passer once the field shrinks. This is an underrated part of his game that should continue to blossom over the season.
Ultimately, Stockton continues to grow as a passer because his teammates breed confidence into him and vice versa. He fits Mike Bobo's offense like hand in glove. Once again, his threat to carry the rock himself has in turn helped him grow even more as a passer. Since opposing defenses have to respect the run, it then allows for larger passing windows to open up. Now if he could just layer it a bit.
Stockton sky rocketing up Connelly's quarterback rankings speak volumes because of his evolution.