Gunner Stockton has found himself in an eerily similar situation this offseason compared to last year. Last offseason the national media questioned if he was good enough to play quarterback at Georgia, and similar conversations still exist today.
Kirby Smart did not question Stockton last year, in fact he was very adamant about how good he thought he was. Smart still feels that way this offseason, but throughout spring ball he has been publicly demanding that Stockton keep improving in a few key areas.
His demands have been so in his face that it made it seem like their success this fall depended solely on him. In an effort to ensure Stockton doesn’t feel this way, Smart made a new statement in hopes of taking the pressure off of him.
“So, him specifically, there are all kinds of things he can do to get better, but it revolves around a lot of guys doing things around him better,” Smart said via x.com.
Kirby Smart tries out a new coaching strategy with Gunner Stockton
It goes without saying that it takes a team to win a National Championship. Even if Stockton is the greatest quarterback of all time this season he will still need a lot of help if Georgia is going to win it all. Smart obviously knows this, but up to this point he has continued to demand better play from his quarterback.
But recently he has changed his tone a bit. Instead of focusing solely on his development, Smart said that every player around him needs to get a lot better as well. This will tell Stockton that all the pressure isn’t on him and that he can rely on his teammates to help Georgia win this fall.
Defending Stockton in this manner is probably wise because of all the wild takes being thrown his way this offseason. So even though he does need to improve a lot, all of his teammates do as well. And if that happens there’s no reason why Georgia can’t win a national title this year.
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