Gunner Stockton is back for one more season as Georgia's starting quarterback. All eyes are on him as many believe he is the one person capable of leading the Bulldogs to Kirby Smart's third National Championship in six years.
Since this will be Stockton's last season in Athens it's impossible to not start thinking about what life will be like without him. Kirby Smart is already thinking about that as well as he spoke a little bit about the progression of the four backup quarterbacks so far this spring.
"So when you talk about Buddha (Hezekiah Millender), and the two Ryans (Ryan Puglisi and Ryan Montgomery), and Bryson (Beaver) all those guys I'm pleased with where they are, and need them to keep growing, because they're gonna get some loud looks and some scrimmage looks here coming up soon," Smart said via 247sports.com.
Georgia's strong QB depth is built to sustain UGA into the future post Gunner Stockton
Georgia never has a shortage of elite players in their quarterback room. Recently they went from Stetson Bennett to Carson Beck and now to Stockton which is quite the run of college QBs, but what makes this stretch so great is that all three players were not expected to be that great according to the public.
Smart and his staff however are very good at developing their quarterbacks, and those that stay patient and wait their turn tend to find a lot of success when the keys of the offense are handed to them.
Smart shared that he is very pleased with where all four backups are at in their development. At this point they are all in different stages as Ryan Puglisi has been around a few years and Bryson Beaver just stepped foot on campus for the first time a couple months ago, but so far Smart is happy with where they are at.
Who knows which player will be the starter in 2027 when Stockton is gone, but it is clear that Smart believes they will have plenty of great options. And if the worst scenario occurs this season and Stockton suffers an injury, it sounds like Georgia will be able to survive that as well.