Motivation are readiness are not issues for Georgia QB Gunner Stockton

ATLANTA — It doesn’t seem as if there are many Gunner Stockton believers going into the 2025 season. Outside of Paul Finebaum, few to people with a large platform seem to be raking him over the coals or expressing considerable doubt, but the ones who think that his immense high school success will translate are even harder to find.

That might be because Stockton hasn’t really been put in a situation to build confidence—his own and within the minds of others. Stockton has played more than a quarter of football three times in his career. A whole game against Notre Dame in which, without a run game or decent pass protection, he led the Bulldog offense to just 10 points. He had a half of play against Texas where he helped Georgia come from three points back to win an SEC Championship. Then there’s the considerable experience he gained in the second half of the Bulldogs’ Orange Bowl beatdown of Florida State in 2023.

Stockton told reporters at SEC Media Days that he saw Finebaum’s comments. The SEC Network personality said, “I don’t think Georgia has a quarterback, which is what is going to be their undoing.” Kirby Smart later ribbed Finebaum over it.

He wouldn’t go as far as to say that those comments lit any sort of fire under him. The fact that he acknowledged the comments was surprising considering the taciturnity and mild-mannered nature of the Rabun County High School product. But no one should mistake that for a lack of motivation.

“Yeah, I’ve been motivated,” Stockton said on Tuesday. “I think at Georgia there’s always a standard, and it’s a privilege to be at the University of Georgia, and just trying to uphold that and do right by everybody in the building has been a big thing and a big motivating factor.”

Stockton’s background is quite different than Georgia’s last quarterback, Carson Beck. While Beck did great things for the Bulldogs and had to shoulder a large portion of the load last season, his path to Athens was just different.

Beck hails from Florida and was committed to Alabama at one point. He was also a perceived Florida lean before committing to UGA. He patiently waited his turn and posted a couple of 3,000-yard passing seasons before entering the 2025 NFL Draft. He then pulled his name out, hit the transfer portal, and signed with Miami.

If you’re looking to liken Stockton’s path to another, it’s much more similar to the two previous SEC Championship quarterbacks in Athens — Jake Fromm and Stetson Bennett. The former four-star prospect grew up in a completely different part of the state, the extreme northeast, but he was a Bulldog fan the entire way. Stockton had been to plenty of games before he ever became a recruit.

Fandom and love of the school, however, won’t get it done on its own. It’s a good thing that Stockton has considerable talent. He’s a willing and capable runner of the football. The SEC Championship game and the Sugar Bowl proved that he’s a tough customer. Stockton took big hits and blindside shots and always got back up.

Stockton pushes the ball downfield accurately and on time, doesn’t get rattled, and has a competitive fire that never really shines through during an interview. Kirby Smart, however, has an appreciation for his quarterback seems to idle in ready mode.

“The one thing that I really appreciate about Gunner and most quarterbacks is he prepared every game as if he was the starter, Smart said on the SEC Media Day big stage. “People can say that and say that’s 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 up to go into the game and play, and he didn’t play in a normal environment where you’ve 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 with the ones. So I thought he handled that moment well, and he taught a lot of our young players that you’ve got to be prepared and ready.”