Georgia quarterback Carson Beck will forgo his remaining year of eligibility and enter the 2025 NFL Draft, he announced on social media Saturday.
The 22-year-old played the last game of his college career in Georgia’s 22-19 SEC Championship Game victory over Texas on Dec. 7, sustaining an injury to the UCL in his right arm on the final play of the first half. Beck returned for the game’s final play — a handoff to running back Trevor Etienne for a game-winning touchdown in overtime — after backup quarterback Gunner Stockton had to sit out a play after his helmet came off. Beck had season-ending surgery earlier this month which ruled him out for the rest of Georgia’s College Football Playoff run.
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Beck led the SEC with 28 touchdown passes this season, finishing with 3,485 passing yards in 13 games. He went 24-3 as a starter in his Georgia career, sitting behind starting quarterback Stetson Bennett for the Bulldogs’ two national championships in 2021 and 2022 .
“The past five years at the University of Georgia have been nothing short of a dream come true and I will forever cherish the memories that have been made,” Beck said in a statement. “Thank you Dawg Nation for the time I’ve been here and to those who’ve supported and believed in me, thank you. It’s been an incredible journey and all these moments have ultimately led me to take the next step in my football career.”
Beck entered the season as a candidate for the No. 1 pick in 2025, but his completion percentage dipped and he threw 12 interceptions in the regular season, twice his 2023 total. Beck’s strong arm and big-game experience should still have him in the mix for an early-round pick.
“Obviously when you look at the stats they aren’t the same stats as last year. But the goal, when you’re in this league, is to win the SEC championship, and he was the quarterback in that game who got us to that game and put us in that position,” Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said on Saturday. “Every game isn’t going to be pretty, but his resiliency in every game, whether it went good or bad, to get over things, whether of his doing, of my doing, or the right guard, or drops, to be resilient and help us win football games in the fourth quarter, says a lot about our team and him.”
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In November, an NFL scout who has spent two decades in the business and was granted anonymity to speak honestly about Beck’s draft trajectory told The Athletic that Beck was his top-rated QB coming into this season but that he was no longer his team’s top choice because of “the combination of the lack of mobility and the lack of poise.” The scout called Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders “the cleanest” quarterback in the draft.
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Beck and the Bulldogs opened the season strong, blowing out Clemson 34-3, but once SEC play began Beck started struggling against some of the toughest competition in the country. Georgia played one of the hardest schedules in college football, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index, facing top defenses in Texas, Ole Miss, Alabama, Auburn and Tennessee.
“People have given (Beck) a hard time, but I think he’s good and he’s really accurate,” one SEC defensive coordinator told The Athletic earlier this week. “He tried to put some stuff into really tight windows and he forced some stuff. (The Bulldogs are) not as good at receiver as they’ve been. They’re not what they’ve been the last couple of years.”
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Beck is expected to make a full recovery from this month’s surgery and begin throwing in the spring of 2025, the school said. His surgery was performed by renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles.
No. 2 Georgia plays No. 7 Notre Dame in a College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day.
“There’s unfinished business still this season and I’ll be here to support however I can, finish strong!” Beck said.
— The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman and Seth Emerson contributed reporting.
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(Photo: Rich von Biberstein / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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