Pro Football Focus names Georgia quarterback Carson Beck the best in the country

Carson Beck is the top returning passer in the country after throwing for 3,941 yards last season, and Pro Football Focus, which evaluates much more than just raw passing stats, agrees that Georgia has the best QB in college football. 

Kirby Smart has turned Georgia into a powerhouse with overwhelming talent on the defensive side of the ball, physically dominating his way to back-to-back national championships, but now he has the ultimate advantage at the most important position on the field. 

Over the years, PFF has established itself as the preeminent evaluation system for NFL performance and in 2014, began grading college football players as well.

Beck’s impressive production last year with 24 passing touchdowns to just six interceptions as a first-year starter, has turned the eyes of the NFL to Athens. In the 2024 NFL Draft, six quarterbacks were selected in the first 12 picks, so Beck was smart to avoid that crowded QB class and return to college, and now he’s the top QB prospect in the country. 

Going back 1943, Georgia has produced five No. 1 overall NFL draft picks and just one quarterback, Matthew Stafford in 2009. Besides Stafford, John Rauch, the No. 2 overall pick of the Detroit Lions in 1949 is the only other Bulldog first-round QB. Beck will almost certainly join that group, but even his stellar evaluation by NFL minds hasn’t made him the favorite to take home the most important individual hardware in the college game. 

Beck enters the season second in Heisman Trophy odds, behind Dillon Gabriel, who transferred from Oklahoma to Oregon this offseason and closely trailed by Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers. If Beck does find a way to win the now QB-dominated award, he will be the first Bulldog since Herschel Walker in 1982.

According to PFF's passing grade in 2023, Beck finished the year fifth, behind Bo Nix, Jayden Daniels, SMU's Preston Stone, and Texas A&M's Conner Weigman, with a grade of 90.8. PFF likely ranked Beck first heading into the season because Stone played most of his season against Group of Five competition at SMU and Conner Weigman has struggled to stay healthy.