The one storyline that every Georgia football fan was paying the most attention to on Saturday during G-Day was the quarterback competition between Gunner Stockton and Ryan Puglisi. As it stands today, one of these two will be the starter in the fall, and while it seems like Stockton is the current leader, both players still have a chance to come out on top.
G-Day marked the best opportunity for both players to show why they deserve to win the job, so it's not surprising that Kirby Smart spoke in length about both players with the media after G-Day.
"Both did some good things and both did some poor things, which, when you get in a game environment, they need that," Smart shared via 247sports.com. "They need a game environment, they need a pocket, they need live, they need to play football. And they continue to get better. They understand they have some weapons on the outside. We have to rely on those guys to be able to make some plays, and I think both of those guys understand the offense. Ryan's come a long way in what was really his first spring, and he made some nice throws."
What has Smart seen from Stockton this spring?
After speaking about both players in the above statement, Smart was then asked about Stockton specifically and what he has seen from him so far this spring.
"Confidence, understanding the offense, knowing when to take a shot, which he didn't do a great job today," Smart continued. "He had a couple times where he could have thrown the ball or checked it down. He took shots that he probably didn't have to. But he's done a really good job with his feet, his legs. He made plays with his legs today, and I thought Ryan did too. They're both good athletes that can extend plays."
How has Puglisi improved this spring?
Fans may be a little more interested in Puglisi's progress simply because he has not made an appearance during a game yet like Stockton has. Some fans think that is why Stockton has an advantage over Puglisi right now, and it appears Smart agrees with that sentiment as well.
"He has growth. He's still probably a little bit behind Gunner in terms of the knowledge of the offense, but he's catching up in regards to that, right? He's getting experience, knowing when to pull it down and run it, when to throw it away, just game management decisions. He's not gonna do anything but get better," Smart shared. "And they're both great kids who have a great relationship with each other. And we're very lucky to have two guys that care so much about Georgia. And they're not worried about the perception or whatever you're gonna write coming out of the scrimmage of your view of them. They don't care. They care about the team, and that's what I care about."
This quote shows that Puglisi is still in position to win the starting job, but Smart did share an important detail as to why Stockton is the leader right now. Knowing the offense inside and out obviously is something every QB needs to know before they can start at Georgia, so as long as Stockton knows the offense better then their might be little chance that Puglisi wins the job.
But Smart sounds confident in both quarterbacks, so whoever wins the job this fall should be able to lead Georgia to a lot of success.