Josh Pate is one of the most beloved college football personalities social media has to offer. His weekly college football show is one of the most watched shows in the entire sport, and for good reason.
He typically is very thoughtful with whatever he is discussing and never acts rude or disrespectful to clickbait for attention. Overall he is a really good person to listen to, but his recent comments about Gunner Stockton didn't feel right.
Pate was discussing how great Georgia has been the last five years compared to the rest of the country. He then discussed how Georgia has taken a step back the last couple years compared to their National Championship teams which is fair to say, but he said that Stockton is the one person that is holding Georgia back from getting back to the level of their teams in 2021 and 2022.
What y’all think about this? pic.twitter.com/2kzoKsiRV5
— 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐞🐶 (@TrulyFTO) June 29, 2026
What does Gunner Stockton have to do to earn some respect?
All Stockton has done at Georgia is win. He was forced into the 2024 SEC Championship game when Carson Beck got hurt, and what did he do? Win.
Then during his first season as a full time starter he went 11-1 and won the SEC again. Sure he hasn't found any success in the College Football Playoff, but why are people acting like he is a bad quarterback?
Stockton has a lot of room to improve, no one can deny that, but doesn't everyone in college? If Stockton doesn't show any signs of improvement this year then he will deserve some criticism, but a quarterbacks second year as a starter is typically when they improve the most and so far this offseason Stockton has done everything he can to greatly improve.
Stockton does have a lot of people who believe in him, but there are just as many like Pate who have zero faith in him.
What would a good season from Gunner Stockton look like?
As mentioned, as long as Stockton improves this year then his 2026 campaign will be remembered as a successful one. Last season he threw 24 touchdowns to just five interceptions while racking up 10 rushing touchdowns as well. If he can improve on all those numbers then Georgia will have a good chance to repeat as SEC Champions.
Speaking of winning the SEC, that is something Georgia will have to do for this season to be tabbed as a good one as well. They don't need to win a National Championship, but they do need to win the SEC and maybe at least one game in the playoff for this season to be a success.
Like any quarterback, Stockton would be one of the first people blamed if things go wrong for Georgia, so their team success is arguably more important than any individual success for his legacy.
Stockton isn't a favorite to win the Heisman Trophy, but he is up there. Georgia also is just behind Texas as the favorite to win the SEC as well. Combining all of that together shows that Georgia should expect big things this season, so now all they need to do is go out and prove it on the field.
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