Everyone knows that Georgia football has a quarterback competition on their hands this offseason. But many fans wonder how much of a competition it actually is.
Kirby Smart is unlikely to announce a starting quarterback anytime soon as he likely wants this competition to run as long as possible. This competition will only make Gunner Stockton and Ryan Puglisi that much better, so he would be silly to end that competition in the spring.
But most fans assume that the job is Stocktons, no matter how good of a fight Puglisi puts up. And recent comments from the team and Smart on Tuesday during their press conference points towards them having a lot in confidence in Stockton as well which could indicate he is winning this competition.
WR Zachariah Branch
“I just saw that he came in that SEC Championship game, and he did his thing,” Branch said via uga.rivals.com. “So, I saw that, and I was like, okay. I watched him throughout the practices when I came up here on the visit, and I just saw his work ethic and his fire in practice. You know, that's something that caught my eye as well.”
“Gunner Stockton, I knew he was a dog since we started off in the workouts,” Branch continued. “You know, I can tell easily from the work ethic and how you prepare yourself to go out there and be the best version of yourself. I can definitely tell that he was really trying to compete every rep.”
TE Lawson Luckie
“He's been killing it,” Luckie shared. “I'm super proud of Gunner. I'm excited to see what he can do. And he's just a great leader. He's super consistent. He makes every play you need him to make. And he always knows what's going on. He's never, he's like, he's unprepared. The dude loves ball, and people love playing with him.”
WR Dillon Bell
“I see a lot more talkative Gunner, he's very mature,” Bell stated. “He's taking action, he's being a leader, he's putting guys where they need to be. I like what I'm seeing from him.”
Kirby Smart
“Yeah, he's a tremendous leader, but that’s nothing I didn't already know,” Smart shared. “He's done everything right since he's been here.… He earns people's respect by how he works and how he carries himself. He's got a tremendous amount of confidence in his ability.”