Ryan Puglisi was in a heated battle for the starting quarterback job at Georgia with Gunner Stockton this offseason. Stockton was the winner of that competition and has since gone on to have an extremely impressive season, but Georgia fans can't forget about Puglisi.
It is rare nowadays for someone as talented as Puglisi to stay put with a program after not winning the starting job for multiple years. But that is the reality Puglisi has found himself in as he is in his second season with UGA and has yet to be the starting quarterback. In fact, Puglisi still being at Georgia at this point in his career is a little surprising because he is the only top 10 QB from the 2024 recruiting class that has not become a starter or transferred elsewhere.
Of the top 10 quarterbacks in the 2024 recruiting class, only one has yet to start a game or enter the transfer portal.
— DawgNation (@DawgNation) December 16, 2025
That would be Georgia QB Ryan Puglisi, who has always been willing to do things differently: https://t.co/pYvFEUAkI2
While that may seem weird to people outside of Georgia, in Athens that is just how things work.
Puglisi has looked very good in his limited time on the field this season, and he continues to be someone that has been impressive throughout practice all season long. So if he wanted to enter the Transfer Portal and start somewhere else he easily could, but so far he has stuck with Georgia in hopes his patience will pay off in the long run.
And that patience more than likely will pay off.
Georgia has a long history of quarterbacks waiting their turn before finding a lot of success under Kirby Smart. That is exactly what Stockton did before this season and what Stetson Bennett did before leading Georgia to multiple National Championships. Even Carson Beck waiting for his turn to be the starter as well. So if a quarterback is going to sit and wait for their turn at any school, Georgia has proven they should do that here.
It will be interesting to see if Puglisi sticks around with Georgia for another year after this season ends. If Stockton departs for the NFL Draft then the starting job in 2026 is his to win, but if Stockton returns to Georgia then he will be a backup for yet another season. At that point it wouldn't be surprising to see him leave UGA, but based on Georgia's track record at QB it might still be worth it to stick around no matter what.