Todd Kirkland/Getty Georgia Bulldogs QB Carson Beck.
Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Stetson Bennett IV has thrown his final pass in college after leading his team to a second consecutive National Championship victory. Georgia head coach Kirby Smart now has to answer the question: Who will replace Bennett as the Bulldogs QB in 2023? The answer is expected to come from within the program.
Georgia’s quarterback room includes Carson Beck and Brock Vandagriff, who both appeared in games in reserve of Bennett in 2022 and 2021, and former top recruit Gunner Stockton. Beck took over for Bennett at the end of Georgia’s blowout 65-7 win over TCU in the title game on January 9 at the Rose Bowl.
Smart said at a press conference the day after the championship game, “We’ve got some good quarterbacks in there; we got one that took a black jersey off and took hits all week so he could be Max. Gunner Stockton said, ‘Coach, take my shirt off. I’ll take the hits.'” Stockton played as TCU quarterback Max Duggan during the Bulldogs preparation for the championship game. Smart added, “And Brock Vandagriff is down there learning all year, Carson Beck got a lot of play time and has a lot of composure to come back and be able to play. So those three guys will get to battle it out. And they’ll learn a lot.”
Offensive coordinator Todd Monken told reporters ahead of the championship game about the potential replacement for Bennett, “We’re blessed. Those guys are great football players. I’m just fired up they’re all going to be here in the spring. Because we’re in a time and place where that doesn’t happen. And those guys are really, really talented players and I’m excited to have them all this spring. … They’ve been very, very supportive of what we do, how we do it, how we coach them and Stetson.”
Smart has not had to make a decision on who will start for Georgia since Bennett took over for JT Daniels at the start of the 2021 season following an injury. Here is a look at the options Smart will choose from to pick Georgia’s new QB:
Carson Beck Is a Redshirt Sophomore From Jacksonville Who Appeared in the National Championship Games
Todd Kirkland/GettyGeorgia Quarterback Carson Beck.
Carson Beck will enter the 2023 season as a redshirt junior for the Georgia Bulldogs. According to his bio on the team website, Beck is from Jacksonville, Florida, and played at Mandarin High School. Beck was the 2018 USA Today Florida Offensive Player of the year in 2018 and was ranked in the top 20 in the country among pro-style quarterbacks by most recruiting evaluators, according to the Georgia website.
Beck, who is 6’4″ tall and weighs 215 pounds, played in three games in 2021, finishing the year completing 10 passes on 23 attempts for 176 yards and throwing 2 touchdowns and 2 and 2 interceptions, according to the Georgia website. In 2022, Beck appeared in seven games, completing 26 passes on 35 attempts, with 4 touchdowns and no interceptions. Beck relieved Bennett in the Bulldogs championship win over TCU, completing 2 passes on 3 attempts for 31 yards.
Kearis Jackson doesn’t get his toe down in time…
BUT THIS THROW FROM CARSON BECK 🔥
After Beck’s perforamance against Vanderbilt in relief of Bennett, Smart told reporters, according to Rivals, “Carson’s done a nice job. He studies and, as is always the case with the backup quarterback, they’ve got to be prepared for every game. They don’t know if things will happen and if they’ve got to go in. He does a really good job doing that, and I think we do a really good job of managing his reps and getting him the looks he needs to prepare and develop. He certainly has not been in a lot of critical moments, but he’s done everything we’ve asked him to do.”
In his scouting report of Beck in 2019, 247sports.com’s John Garcia Jr. wrote, “Classic pro-style quarterback build with fairly filled out frame. Tall, in-the-pocket passer with ability to spray the football all over the field. Solid mechanics and above-average arm strength with better accuracy. Anticipatory thrower with ability to change speeds, play off-platform and manipulate arm angles. Elite processing relative to starting experience. Willing to take risks. Fiery, competitive player willing to get physical as a runner if needed. Quicker than appearance suggests with good instincts on the move as a runner. ”
Brock Vandagriff Is a Redshirt Freshman From Georgia Who Played in 3 Games in 2022 & Was a 5-Star Recruit
Todd Kirkland/GettyGeorgia Bulldogs QB Brock Vandagriff.
Brock Vandagriff is the other quarterback on Georgia’s roster with playing experience. He will enter the 2023 season as a redshirt sophomore. According to the Bulldogs website, Vandagriff is 6’3″ tall and weighs 205 pounds. He is from Bogart, Georgia, and played at Prince Avenue Christian School, according to the Georgia website. He was selected to the 2021 All-American Bowl and was ranked as one of the top quarterbacks in the country in high school, according to the Bulldogs website.
Vandagriff played in two games in 2021, but did not attempt a pass. In 2022, Vandagriff appeared in three games and completed one pass for 7 yards, according to the Georgia website. He has not thrown a touchdown or interception in his Bulldogs career.
Vandagriff told DawgNation, “Over my past two years being here, if I hadn’t been learning as much as I’ve been learning, then I would have already left. But under Coach Monken, just being in his system is invaluable. Every rep I get when I’m out there is invaluable, and Gunner and Carson would say the same thing.”
Gunner Stockton, Collin Drake & Jackson Muschamp Rounded Out Georgia’s QB Room in 2022
Gunner Stockton has not played a snap for Georgia, but was a top recruit when he committed to the Bulldogs, according to the team’s website. Stockton, of Tiger, Georgia, played at Rabun County High School and was ranked as a 4-star quarterback by ESPN. Recruiting analysts put him among the best dual-threat quarterbacks in his class.
Stockton told DawgNation, “Everybody wants to come in and start, but when you’ve got Stetson and all the guys, and how well he’s done this year, it’s really awesome. To see how Stetson has played, I’m getting to learn a lot. I feel like that’s the biggest thing. … It has definitely made me better, just going against the best defense in the country, but I’ve really enjoyed it. I just feel like it’s all part of it, and I feel everybody has to go through it.”
Two other quarterbacks are a longshot to play for Georgia in 2023. Collin Drake is a redshirt freshman from Ennis, Texas. According to the Ennis Daily News, Drake is a preferred walk-on.
Also on the roster is redshirt sophomore Jackson Muschamp, who is the son of Georgia’s defensive coordinator, Will Muschamp. He played at the Hammond School in Columbia, South Carolina.
Georgia Didn’t Sign a QB in the Team’s 2023 Recruiting Year, but Have a Commitment From 4-Star Ryan Puglisi in the 2024 Class
Georgia did not sign a quarterback during the 2023 recruiting season. Smart told On3 in December 2022 when asked why he didn’t sign any QBs, “I think it’s irrelevant in today’s day and age. The portal is full of them. There’s going to be multiple guys in every year. You want to do the best job you can to get the best quarterback you can,” Smart said on Wednesday when asked about not taking a quarterback in the 2023 class.”
Smart added, “When you have three quarterbacks, sometimes you don’t have any. And when you have one quarterback, that’s when you have a quarterback. We’re very pleased with what we have in our quarterback room. We think we’ve got three quarterbacks that are going to be really good, so the concern wasn’t about a quarterback.”
Looking ahead to 2024, at least one new face will join the QB room. Ryan Puglisi, of Avon Old Farms in Connecticut, is a 4-star recruit who committed to play for Georgia in October 2022, according to Sports Illustrated.