Gunner Stockton has entered a conversation that not even the biggest Georgia football fan ever thought would be possible this season. After his five touchdown performance against Ole Miss this past weekend, Stockton is firmly in the Heisman Trophy race.
Vegas oddsmakers currently give Stockton +1000 odds to win the Heisman. This is much better than his preseason odds of +3500. Stockton also has the fourth best odds in the country as he only trails a trio of quarterbacks in Julian Sayin (Ohio State), Ty Simpson (Alabama) and Fernando Mendoza (Indiana).
Stockton obviously has a lot of work to do the rest of the season if he is going to win the Heisman, but he and Kirby Smart have a big decision to make the rest of the season. Should they go out of their way to help him win the award, or should they just focus on winning each game and see what happens?
Gunner Stockton, Kirby Smart face Heisman Trophy dilemma
Georgia somehow only has two Heisman Trophy winners in the history of their program. This is significantly less than the other blue bloods of college football, so it would be nice if the Bulldogs were able to add a third winner to their history books.
Stockton clearly has a chance to win this award this year, but should he and Smart go out of their way to improve his chances?
Some teams in the past have been accused of padding a players stats to help them win the Heisman. Just last season Miami (FL) was accused of doing this with eventual winner Cam Ward as they kept him in games against lesser opponents that were already a blowout.
This is something Georgia could do the rest of this season if they get up big on an opponent, but is that what’s in the team’s best interest? Playing Stockton when the game is already won puts injury risk on him that isn’t needed. And if he does get injured not only will he not win the Heisman, but Georgia as a team could suffer future losses as well.
Georgia also could call more plays that increase the chance of Stockton padding his stats, but adjusting their game plan just to accomplish that could also hurt the team overall as well.
Stockton likely doesn’t care much about winning the Heisman and would much rather win a National Championship. Smart undoubtedly agrees with that sentiment as well. But it’s impossible to not think about what they could do to help Stockton win the Heisman Trophy which would help improve the perception of Georgia football as a whole.