Georgia football always has really good quarterbacks on their roster. A lot of the attention obviously falls on the starter, but it's important to monitor the backups as well because you never know when their number will be called in a big moment.
We also never know when they will become the full time starter either, so it's important that they continue to work on their development so they are ready to go when it's their time. That is the exact position that true freshman quarterback Ryan Puglisi found himself in this past season.
Everyone including Puglisi knew that he would not be the starter or backup this past season, but that doesn't mean that his development wasn't extremely important. While the most important thing in college football will always be winning now, Kirby Smart and his staff can't ignore the future either. So Puglisi's development was critically important this past season.
Puglisi recently discussed his development and how his first year at Georgia went, and his comments are very exciting for the future.
"It's been amazing," Puglisi shared via 247sports.com. "Just being a freshman, trying to be a sponge, soak up all the knowledge of the guys that are here — the older guys like Carson and Gunner — and just being able to learn every single day and try and get better every single day in any way I can [has been valuable]."
Puglisi then went on to discuss how impressive Georgia's defense is and how much they help him prepare and make him a better player.
"This whole entire defense is insane. I mean, all these guys have a high motor and work very hard," Puglisi discussed. "Anytime I was out there — still to this day it's a challenge every single day. That's why you come to Georgia: to play against these guys."
Can Puglisi win the starting job?
There's no denying that Gunner Stockton is the favorite to become the starting QB for Georgia this fall. But just because he's the favorite doesn't mean he will actually win the starting job.
Puglisi is the one quarterback currently on Georgia's roster that will be able to challenge Stockton for the starting job. It's hard for UGA fans to fathom him winning the job because he has not appeared in a game in his career yet, but all reports suggest that Puglisi has been extremely impressive in practice and is much better than he was when he first arrived on campus.
Has he improved enough to become the full time starter this fall? That remains to be seen. But he undoubtedly has a chance to win the starting job and it maybe shouldn't be all that surprising if he does.