In a college football season that keeps chewing up starting quarterbacks, Georgia has to be paying close attention.
That’s not because Gunner Stockton is out. He isn’t.
Kirby Smart said Stockton has shown no concussion symptoms after taking a jarring hit on the first play against Auburn, and the issue was ultimately a shoulder stinger. But the scare was enough to shine a bright light on the Bulldogs’ quarterback depth - and on how different life looks if Stockton ever has to miss real time.
Ryan Puglisi stepped in for Stockton against Auburn and gave Georgia a quick taste of what he can bring. He was in for three plays, completed all three passes and capped the sequence with a 41-yard strike to Craig Dandridge. For a brief moment, he looked calm, accurate and ready for the moment.
Still, there’s a big gap between a handful of snaps and running the show over an extended stretch for a team with playoff and national title expectations.
Puglisi has been around long enough to generate real intrigue. The former four-star recruit came to Georgia in the 2024 class as one of the country’s top quarterback prospects, and his arm has always been the headliner.
He can drive the ball deep, fit passes into tight windows and challenge defenses vertically. He has also shown more mobility than some expected, including a 70-yard touchdown run against Western Kentucky earlier this season.
Against Auburn, the talent showed up again. The poise did too. On those three completions, Puglisi looked comfortable, including that third-down throw to Dandridge that flashed exactly why Georgia has been so interested in his upside.
But the sample is still small, and that’s the part that should make Bulldogs fans uneasy.
Puglisi has played in 13 games over the past two seasons without making a start. He has completed 36 of 58 passes for 413 yards and three touchdowns in his career, and this season he is 20 of 31 for 252 yards and two scores. A lot of that work came in blowouts, when the pressure level is nowhere near what it would be in a tight SEC game or a playoff setting.
That’s where the uncertainty lives. It’s one thing to come off the bench and hit a play. It’s another to walk into a defense that spent all week preparing for you, adjust when the first plan stalls, and keep making clean decisions while the game tightens around you.
None of that is a knock on Puglisi’s ability. Georgia has reasons to believe in him, and offensive coordinator Mike Bobo has spoken highly of his preparation and growth. The Bulldogs have clearly invested time in getting him ready for a bigger role.
Even so, potential is not the same thing as proof. Georgia has a talented backup. It just doesn’t yet have a proven replacement for Stockton, and that difference matters if the Bulldogs ever have to test the depth chart for real.
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