Georgia QB battle: Kirby Smart declines to officially name Gunner Stockton starter, sets expectation

Although redshirt junior quarterback Gunner Stockton seems to have all but wrapped up the starting quarterback job heading into Georgia‘s 2025 season, head coach Kirby Smart declined to name him the starter on Tuesday.

Stockton took over as the Bulldogs’ starter in last season’s College Football Playoff game following a season-ending injury to Carson Beck in the SEC Championship game. The Tiger, GA native boasts 588 passing yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions in nine career games.

The two-time National Championship winning coach was asked if he was ready to name Stockton the starter for this season, but he responded with “why, so y’all can write about it?”

“Good decisions, good decisions,” Smart continued when asked about their expectations for Stockton. “Make good decisions. Continue to develop and understanding situational football. We’ve made football so complicated that some quarterbacks don’t even know the down and distance. I don’t think they actually know ‘do I have another down after this play?’ or ‘Is this my last chance to get the first down?’ It’s just little things.

“Being the quarterback and understanding the game. Understanding what the defense is doing. He’s grown so much when it comes to that. ID and protections. ID and run game. Playing quarterback is like being a computer… it’s got a million things going on at once. He’s gotten better and better at handling those things and that’s what I want to see him do when he gets the opportunity.”

Kirby Smart praised Stockton at SEC Media Days

Stockton was a four-star recruit (No. 149 ranked player) in the Class of 2022. He attended Rabun County (Tiger, GA), where he was the No. 9 ranked quarterback in the country.

“You just don’t ever know when your number is going to be called,” Smart said about Stockton being thrust into the starting job at SEC Media Days. “The one thing that I really appreciate about Gunner, and most quarterbacks, is he prepared every game as if he was the starter. And people can say that and say this, coach speak, but he actually did it. He went in, watched extra tape, and he knew that, at any point in time, he could be called on that to go in the game and play.

“And, he didn’t go in a normal environment — you know, we got a big lead, maybe you’re beating an opponent — he went in against a top defense in the country, in one of the biggest games of the season, and performed well for a guy that had not gotten a lot of reps as the one. So I thought he handled that moment well, and he told a lot of our young players that you got to be prepared and ready.”

Georgia opens the Gunner Stockton era this season on Aug. 30 against Marshall. Kick-off is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on ESPN.