ATHENS, Ga. — The receivers were ready, warmed up and ready for their big moment. The NFL people, including Mike Tomlin, a couple other head coaches and practically the entire Atlanta Falcons staff, were ready. The only question: Who would be throwing to the players?
In past Georgia pro days, when the program didn’t have a quarterback in the draft, the receivers would choose one. Someone with a good arm who could make them look good. So as the receivers’ moment neared, the mini-drama built … until Gunner Stockton and his wide smile appeared.
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That wasn’t quite a shock: He’s the team’s only quarterback with game experience. Dom Lovett, one of the receivers, said Stockton’s class schedule also made him available. But when asked if he would have chosen Stockton, the receiver replied: “Oh yes.”
It has been four months since Stockton appeared on the national scene, when he was thrust into the SEC championship and then College Football Playoff by Carson Beck’s right elbow injury. With that came all the stories about his humble roots, the 1984 Ford F-150 he still drives. Now the focus is purely on football. And this program oozes the sense that this is Stockton’s team to lead.
No one has declared Stockton the starter. But everyone is sure talking like he has that role. When Kirby Smart was asked this week what he’d seen from Stockton since the Sugar Bowl, he didn’t mention a competition, or any of the other quarterbacks, and talked about how teammates gravitate toward Stockton.
“He’s a tremendous leader, but that’s nothing I didn’t already know. … He’s done everything right since he’s been here,” Smart said. “He’s got a lot of knowledge of our system, and I think that kind of resonates with the other players. They rally around Gunner because they have a lot of respect for him.”
Former players who talked about Stockton during pro day shared a similar vibe.
Center Jared Wilson: “Gunner, I love Gunner. I was so excited — definitely I hated seeing Carson go down, you never want to see a teammate get hurt, and going through the mental battles he was going through. But once Gunner went in that game, it brought a little extra juice to the team.”
Receiver Dominic Lovett: “He’s always got a smile on his face, no matter what the circumstances are he’s always smiling. He’s a great guy to be around. He’s a great leader. I feel like no matter what’s going on he’s very poised, and I feel like he can control the room.”
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Receiver Arian Smith: “He’s going to come in and be positive, have a positive mindset, and bring guys along with him. I’m excited for him to lead this offense this upcoming season.”
Ryan Puglisi could still be a factor, but experience matters a lot. Puglisi as a redshirt freshman is two years behind, plus he was injured last spring.
Georgia could still add a veteran quarterback in the spring portal, something it tried to do in the winter period. But the Bulldogs are less likely to land a starting option than they are to land someone with game experience who could step in if Stockton were injured.
The key question is whether Stockton could actually be a good starting quarterback. If you combine the way he ran the ball in the SEC championship with the way he threw in the Sugar Bowl, that would be ideal. Better pocket presence — rather than giving up the game-changing sack-strip to Notre Dame — is also needed. Georgia hopes that comes with experience. And that it can pay off with the chance to build the offense around his skills during this full offseason.
Georgia is hoping the receiving situation can be helped: Receivers Noah Thomas (a Texas A&M transfer) and Colbie Young (reinstated) give him two tall receivers at the X spot that Beck didn’t have last year. That allows Dillon Bell to play a more natural position at the flanker spot, and Zachariah Branch (a Southern California transfer) can be dynamic out of the slot.
The running game and offensive line are major concerns. But the leadership and chemistry on the offense, which players have acknowledged was lacking last year, appears to have turned a corner, with Stockton a big reason for the improvement.
“Gunner is obviously a very likable human,” junior offensive tackle Earnest Greene III said. “It’s easy to do what you’re supposed to do for one day or two days, but seeing someone be the same person over the course of, I guess two months now, really just his consistency stands out.”
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Lovett recalled that in the month between the SEC championship and Sugar Bowl, Stockton was poised, calm and never too high or too low. Lovett saw him writing and rewriting notes during meetings, getting in extra throws and even working with defensive players.
“He’ll mentor the youngest guys, not only at quarterback but the receivers, the O-linemen who may have trouble. He helps those guys,” Lovett said. “He has no problem with staying after, or going early. He’ll do whatever to help the team.”
That doesn’t mean is Stockton is a vocal, “rah-rah” guy. Smart said he isn’t. Neither was Beck, Stetson Bennett or JT Daniels. But the way a quarterback carries himself can set a tone around the team and the offense.
On the field, clearly, Stockton will still need to prove himself. If one is looking for another reason for optimism, some of Georgia’s best quarterback seasons have come from those with something to prove: Bennett in 2022 coming off the first national title, Jake Fromm in 2018 when he had to stave off Justin Fields, and Beck in 2023 when he got the starting job. Fromm and Beck didn’t do quite as well the years they were established, for what it’s worth.
Every situation is different, of course, and there are nearly six months before Georgia’s season starts. But spring is the time of optimism, and those who were there with Stockton last December have it.
“I have no worries about Gunner,” Wilson said. “He’s going to be a great quarterback for the University of Georgia.”
(Photo: Jonathan Bachman / Getty Images)
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