The Athletic’s latest tiered quarterback rankings left two familiar SEC names just outside the top group: Georgia’s Gunner Stockton and Oklahoma’s John Mateer.
That omission says plenty about how crowded the conference’s quarterback picture looks heading into 2026. The SEC has everything in the mix - a five-star talent with a famous family name in Arch Manning, a former Division II starter in Trinidad Chambliss, and transfer additions such as Sam Leavitt and Byrum Brown. Even lesser-known portal arrivals like Aaron Philo and Kenny Minchey are stepping into starting jobs.
Still, Stockton’s absence from Tier 1 stands out. He enters 2026 after a strong first season as Georgia’s starter, finishing 2025 with 2,804 passing yards, 24 touchdown passes and five interceptions, while also adding 462 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns.
But Georgia quarterbacks have long been judged through a different lens under Kirby Smart. The Bulldogs keep winning, and the surrounding roster often takes center stage in the evaluation. That was true for Stetson Bennett, and Stockton is facing the same kind of scrutiny.
He’ll have plenty around him again this fall. Georgia returns a defense loaded with NFL-caliber talent, and the offense includes multiple NFL-caliber offensive linemen plus proven pieces at skill positions in Nate Frazier and Lawson Luckie.
The biggest change comes at receiver, where Georgia adds Georgia Tech transfer Isiah Canion and gives redshirt freshman and former five-star prospect Talyn Taylor a bigger role. How quickly those two mesh with Stockton could shape the passing game.
Mateer’s case is a little easier to understand. He was excellent at Washington State in 2024, putting up 3,139 passing yards, 29 touchdowns and seven interceptions, while also rushing for 826 yards and 15 scores.
The jump to Oklahoma was always the real test, and the 2025 numbers show why the questions linger. Mateer finished with 2,885 passing yards, 14 touchdowns, 11 interceptions and 431 rushing yards with eight touchdowns.
What keeps the doubt alive is simple: the college football world still wants to see Mateer at full strength in the SEC. After thumb surgery, Oklahoma’s late-season success leaned heavily on its defense and special teams, leaving his ceiling in the conference still up for debate.
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Scott Cross May Be Building More Recruiting Momentum Than Fans Realize
Scott Cross is only in his first year running Georgia Tech, but the early signs on the recruiting trail suggest the reset is already taking hold. He has spent the opening months building relationships with prospects and putting together a 2026 class that already has three top-125 players in it, a notable start for a staff still trying to establish its footprint in a new era.
The bigger point for Yellow Jackets fans is that the work is not stopping with the current class. Cross and his staff are already digging into 2027 evaluations, extending offers and lining up official visits as they keep laying groundwork well ahead of schedule. In a sport where momentum can turn quickly, Georgia Tech appears to be stacking some of it before most people have fully noticed. [Read more 🡒]
Georgia Tech Enters Fall Camp With One Huge Position Group Question
Fall camp opens with Georgia Tech carrying real optimism into the 2026 season, but the roster turnover has left a few spots needing to sort themselves out quickly. The offensive line still looks like the unit fans can feel best about, even with three new starters and some shuffling under Brent Key and Allen Mogridge, and the Yellow Jackets also have reasons to feel good about linebacker play and special teams as they start building toward the fall.
The bigger concern is out wide, where the receiver room enters camp as one of the clearest question marks on the roster. Georgia Tech has limited returning production there, plus a mix of transfer additions and freshmen trying to carve out roles, so the competition will be worth watching from the first practices on. With so many new faces around the program, how that group comes together could end up shaping the offense more than anyone wants to admit in August. [Read more 🡒]
Kirby Smart Is Facing A Georgia Debate He Never Used To
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That is why the debate around Smart has become more interesting than the typical summer talk circuit. Paul Finebaum and Jordan Rodgers both weighed in on whether Smart still sits alone at the top of the sport, and the fact that the question is even being asked says plenty about how high the bar has been set in Athens. For Georgia, the issue is not whether Smart can still coach. It is whether the rest of college football has started to see the opening that recent playoff exits created. [Read more 🡒]