Georgia Fall Camp Position Battle: Quarterback
With the start of fall camp still a month away, one of the biggest questions on the minds of many is who will be the starting quarterback when the Georgia Bulldogs take the field on August 30th for their season opener versus Marshall. Will it be who many consider to be the favorite, Gunner Stockton, or Ryan Puglisi?
The battle started in the spring with both signal-callers getting their chance at competing. However, even after the conclusion of the spring, no starter has officially been named by head coach Kirby Smart.
That would lead you to believe that the Bulldogs will still have a “competition” on their hands when fall camp begins.
What We Learned in the Spring
In the only spring scrimmage that wasn’t held behind closed doors, it was Stockton who led the first-team offense (Red team) on the majority of its drives. He completed 17 of his 34 passes while throwing for 309 yards and two touchdowns with just one interception, as the Red team pulled out the 34-17 over the Black team during the G-Day spring game.
“Confidence, understanding the offense, knowing when to take a shot, which he did do a great job today,” Smart said of Stockton’s growth following G-Day.
Meanwhile, Puglisi played the majority of his snaps leading the Black offense. He threw for 172 yards and a touchdown with an interception while completing 20 of his 46 passes. Yet, in his lone drive with the first team offense, he completed all three of his passes for 52 yards, which included his 17-yard touchdown strike to Colbie Young.
“Ryan’s doing a good job. Ryan continues to get better It’s his first spring, …” Smart of Puglisi following G-Day. “He’s still probably a bit behind Gunner in terms of the knowledge of the offense. But he’s catching up in regards to that. He’s getting experience, … He’s not going to do anything but get better.”
Despite the notion that Stockton is the starter in all but name only, Puglisi stated in the spring his belief that he could “definitely” be Georgia’s starting quarterback right now.
Who Do We See Winning Out?
As Smart acknowledged in the spring, Stockton has an edge in terms of his grasp of the system due to his time with the program. But that doesn’t guarantee that the Tiger, Georgia, native will indeed win the job.
Yet, considering that Stockton got his first career start in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal matchup with Notre Dame after replacing the injured Carson Beck at halftime of the SEC Championship, he appeared to enter the spring with a lead in the competition. That doesn’t seem to have changed heading into fall camp.