Georgia came out of fall camp with one clear certainty at quarterback and one nagging question it never really answered.
Gunner Stockton is the starter, no debate there. The problem for Kirby Smart is that nobody behind him has made a strong enough push to change the depth chart conversation. That turns Stockton from important to absolutely essential for Georgia.
For a long stretch, Smart has been able to lean on quarterback rooms stocked with blue-chip talent. If one starter went down or stalled, another high-end option was usually waiting in the wings. Jacob Eason, Jake Fromm, JT Daniels and Carson Beck all had legitimate help behind them, and Georgia also had Stetson Bennett - “arguably the best walk-on in college football history.”
That kind of cushion just isn’t there right now.
Ryan Puglisi entered camp as the presumed No. 2, and Ryan Montgomery has flashed at times too, but neither has separated from the pack or stamped himself as the obvious next man up. Georgia appears to have spent camp hoping somebody would seize the backup job. That didn’t happen.
So the pressure lands squarely on Stockton, not so much to elevate his play - which already figures to be strong - but to stay on the field.
Stockton’s toughness is part of what makes him so dangerous. He’s also the kind of quarterback who will play with a little reckless abandon, and he has taken hits that made TV viewers wince.
He keeps getting back up, and that’s been part of the appeal. But with the current state of Georgia’s depth chart, those kinds of plays carry more risk than ever.
The concern isn’t just injury in the abstract. It’s injury to a team that expects to chase a national title and doesn’t have the usual safety net at quarterback. That reality could force Stockton to cut back on some of the wild-man element in his game.
If that happens, Mike Bobo has work to do.
Georgia can’t simply ask Stockton to survive on improvisation and hope for the best. His legs are a major piece of the offense, and the Bulldogs do not want to lose that. Bobo will need a plan that keeps Stockton protected, with moving pockets and rollouts built in so he isn’t constantly left to make something out of nothing once a play breaks down.
The schedule only makes the issue more urgent. Georgia’s midseason stretch includes Oklahoma, a resurgent Vanderbilt team, Alabama and a new-look Auburn. If Stockton is healthy through that run, the Bulldogs are in business.
There’s still room for one of the backups to change the story.
Puglisi and Montgomery have both had encouraging moments, and the fact that they were playing against what looks like a potentially dominant Georgia defense in camp and scrimmages may have made their jobs harder. They were both 4-star prospects for a reason, and Georgia recruited them for a reason.
Maybe one of them still turns into something bigger once the games start to count and the stakes are lower in the early part of the season against Tennessee State and Western Kentucky. Sometimes a quarterback doesn’t show you everything until he actually gets live snaps.
That possibility is still there.
For now, though, Georgia is in unfamiliar territory for the Smart era: a starting quarterback it cannot afford to lose and a backup situation that remains unsettled. The first priority is keeping Stockton upright. The second is finding out what Puglisi and Montgomery can really do.
Stockton was already central to Georgia’s season. After camp, he might be irreplaceable, too.
In Other News...
Georgia Fans Need To Know This Before The Season Opener
The No. 3 University of Georgia football team opens the season against Tennessee State, but fans planning to settle in with the usual TV broadcast will need to adjust. The game will not air on traditional television, so anyone hoping to watch will have to turn to a streaming option instead, with access depending on the subscription they already have.
SEC Network+ will carry the matchup for viewers with a cable login, while ESPN+ is available as a separate subscription for those who want to stream directly. The setup can be a little confusing for fans who are used to flipping to a standard channel, especially with different devices and platforms handling those services in different ways, so it is worth sorting out ahead of kickoff. [Read more 🡒]
Bufords Title Defense May Be Getting A Massive New Boost
Bufords title defense already looked sturdy after a season-opening win over Gainesville, but the defending Class 6A state and national champions may have just added another layer of talent to an already loaded roster. Five-star defensive lineman Jalen Brewster announced he is transferring from Cedar Hill High School in Texas to Buford for his senior season, giving the Wolves another national-level name to fold into a defense that had to replace seven Division I players.
Brewster arrives with plenty of attention of his own, ranked among the top players in the country and already committed to Texas Tech. He is also aiming to graduate in December while continuing his athletic career at Buford, a move that gives the program both a short-term boost and another reason to keep its eyes on the bigger picture as the season unfolds. [Read more 🡒]
Former Georgia Receivers Just Made Their Bengals Roster Push Harder To Ignore
Two former Georgia wideouts kept making noise in Cincinnatis preseason finale, and both Colbie Young and Noah Thomas gave the Bengals a little more reason to think hard about their receiver room. Young was the more productive of the two, leading the team with three catches for 48 yards and a touchdown, while Thomas added a 20-yard scoring grab in a showing that fit the kind of late-summer audition players hope to put on tape.
For Georgia fans, it is another reminder of how far the programs receivers have spread across the league, and for the Bengals it turns a routine roster decision into a more interesting call. With final cuts approaching, both pass catchers helped themselves in a game where every snap matters and a single play can tilt the conversation around a final 53-man spot. [Read more 🡒]