Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs’ luck did not favor moving into 2025. After all, they are one of the few programs that will not have the privilege to return their QB1 from last year. Carrying the burden of Carson Beck’s Miami flip in their heart, Smart will have all eyes on his new man, Gunner Stockton. Even before Beck was gone, Smart sang in high praise of Stockton. “That kid played tough as nails, he’s a phenomenal leader, and I think everybody rose up around him.” Now, the Georgia alum turned analyst doubled down on Smart’s review of Stockton as the locker room hero. On the other hand, even though he is confident of Mike Bobo’s potential, the clock is ticking for the offensive coordinator.
Well, for the players, definitely talent is something that can’t be compromised with. But along with talent, there is one other factor that holds heavy importance. And what’s that? Locker room reputation. We have seen how Billy Napier had a hard time with Colorado transfer, Cormani McClain, because of his laid-back nature that negatively impacted the locker room culture. Cut to Georgia, Smart’s squad has seen the positive impact of players on the locker room. Thanks to Jake Fromm, their greatest quarterback of all time. He was 35-7 as the Bulldogs’ starter, including three straight appearances in the Southeastern Conference championship game. However, the analyst Aaron Murray, who played in Georgia from 2009 to 2013, gave Smart’s former quarterback gold stars for his contribution off the gridiron.
On the June 6 episode of the Saturday Down South podcast with Connor O’Gara, Murray shared, “Jake Fromm, kind of built like me, 6’1” 6’2”. Not super athletic, average arm strength, but guess what dude worked his bu- – off. And I once again, I’m not saying that he didn’t do any of these things. I’m just saying Jake Fromm did these to the extreme, was an incredible teammate, and made guys around him better. Did the right things on and off the field, was the first one in the last one out. Always studying the film.” Now that Beck is gone, Smart must still be looking for someone to have the Fromm touch in him. Turns out that the universe granted his wish. As O’Gara dropped a bold take, “To me, that’s what Gunner is.”
He continued, “Gunner is that guy who is still talented, very athletic. Obviously, more athletic than Jake Fromm was. Has a good arm, maybe not like first-round caliber arm talent, but still a good arm, but can bring a locker room together.” Stockton knows his play on the field needs to elevate for Georgia to contend for a championship, but he feels leadership and communication are essential, especially in becoming comfortable with his receivers. His primary focus lies on building chemistry and just knowing how certain routes work. Along with working on his own skills, Stockton now wants to learn about how each person runs a little differently. And Smart got the proof of his players’ willingness to make ends meet for Stockton.
As Murray noted, “I always tell quarterbacks this time that that’s part of your job. You have to be a guy that makes other guys around you play better, that makes other guys around you want to play harder. And it seems like there was a disconnect with Carson a year ago. And it does seem based on what I saw in the SEC championship game and what I saw against Notre Dame, that guys do want to play harder for Gunner.” Even though the Bulldogs took a L in the Sugar Bowl against Notre Dame, Stockton was effective, completing 20 of 32 passes for 234 yards and one touchdown with zero interceptions. After this, the quarterback himself acknowledged in an interview with UGA.
“It was a little bit of a roller coaster, just trying to ride it. But I thought I handled it pretty well. Just seeing my teammates, they helped me out a lot.” While the quarterback is projected to fly high, Smart must be losing out on his sleep because of his offensive coordinator.
Can Gunner Stockton help Mike Bobo find his lost pride?
O’Gara had another question ready for Murray. “Your man, Bobo, how would you evaluate his 2024 performance?” In 2024, Georgia finished the season with the second-worst rushing offense in the SEC (124.4 yards per game). Their running game was crushed under the feet by the best defense in the nation, Texas. So, all these factors combined left Bobo in a hot seat. As Murray shared, “I would say it was very difficult for him with the lack of explosiveness in the run game, the lack of consistency in the pass game, whether that was Carson pressing, whether that was receivers dropping the football, and could Bobo have been better 100%. And he’ll be the first to admit it, and I know Kirby would say the same thing. You know, there’s improvements that need to happen.”
Only based on improvement, Smart might consider Bobo’s contract extension. As Marc Weiszer reported, Bobo’s current salary of $1.403 million will go up to $1.503 million on July 1, 2025, and will increase to $1.603 million on July 1, 2026. However, the analyst has no doubt about Smart’s OC’s potential for a turnaround. “So, like, who would you target if you were Mike Bobo? Where would you go in a game plan to move the ball consistently against SEC defenses? It was a difficult spot. So, not to defend Bobo or anything like that, I think he’s a great offensive coordinator. I’m hoping he does terrific this year with hopefully better talent around the quarterback position.” That’s when Stockton enters the chat.
We could see what Gunner Stockton can bring to the table in his feat against Texas. He completed 12-of-16 passes for 71 yards and an interception against an elite Texas defense. His first start against Notre Dame was a bigger sample size. One thing was evident. Stockton is more willing to escape the pocket when things break down as compared to his predecessor, Carson Beck. Plus, Stockton was Georgia’s quarterback for six quarters last season, and in those six quarters, UGA’s wide receivers only had one drop. Now, that was way better than what the wide receiving corps was around Beck. Looks like Kirby Smart and Mike Bobo have found their spark plug — and his name is Stockton.
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