Hey, what happened the last time we heard people rave about a quarterback running the scout team in practice?
Freshman quarterback Gunner Stockton has done a great job preparing Georgia’s first-team defense as the scout team quarterback. Head coach Kirby Smart couldn’t say enough good things about Stockton during Tuesday’s press conference.
“Poise, great arm talent. He’s probably played since being on the scout team. He hasn’t had to deal with the information overload,” Smart said. “A lot of times, you find out a lot about a guy on the scout team because he is looking at a card. There’s no thought process. There’s no, ‘I have to say this, I have to do this.’ You take the robot out and you play.”
Safety Dan Jackson agreed with his coach’s sentiment.
“Gunner’s incredible,” Jackson said. “He exposes us every day on defense. He can sling it and he can expose us with his feet. I think he gives one of the best, great looks I’ve ever seen on the scout team.”
I’m not sayin’. I’m just sayin’.
Get The Picture 
Good stuff man!
One of my customers in Clayton was his little league coach and community coach in HS. I sent this to him.
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For better or worse, I’ve been high on this kid for awhile. Thought it was very important to flip him away from USCe. Good combo of running/throwing ability. Seems to have good leadership/competitiveness going for him too.
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Yeah, he’s a keeper.
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Geez!! With the turnover we’ve had at the position, I certainly HOPE one of these damned QBs is a keeper!
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He would have probably done better than ole Spencer did last week ……
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So how does this play out?
Beck and Vandagriff battle it out this spring, the loser transfers and Stockton becomes the backup in 23 with the chance to be the man in 24?
If Kirby can keep both Beck and Vandagriff thru fall practice next year I’ll be stunned
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From the people I’ve talked to recently, I’m not so sure Stockton will be a backup next season.
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They’d better get a qb on the roster before that happens.
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Yup. I’ve heard the same thing. Gunner is coming. Beck and BVG better make a move.
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Would be shocked if this happened, but a spicy tidbit nonetheless!
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Nah, Beck starts next year with Brock backing up. Then Beck goes pro after his Heisman award and Brock takes over with Gunner backing up.
Arch who?
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There’s only one arch in Athens. And that’s all we need.
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Brock will not wait around. I wouldn’t. It’s Beck next year with Gunner on deck, hopefully with Sayin enrolling in January. BV needs to move on, as unfortunate as it would be.
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Why not wait? He could start as junior at the least and have 2 years. Or he beats out Beck next year.
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He could. Or he might spend his entire collegiate career as a back up after being a top high school prospect…
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Gesundheit.
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I believe you could have a point. Beck could be a one and done, leaving Gunner as a 2-3 year starter. They say he is very tough, fast and has an arm. I am pulling for this kid.
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Between the three of them, one of them should turn out to be pretty damn good. Beyond that it doesn’t really matter (as much as I like depth). I do know we’re all set for 2022, though.
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Everything I’ve heard is that BVG is nowhere close.
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Yup. Heard it just isn’t clicking yet. This is his third year right?
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Second year
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Hope that is some positive foreshadowing…was wondering how he and Brock were handling being behind the scenes.
FWIW, Carson looks crisp out there…has a nice zip on the deep throws. That really is a super talented QB room.
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I agree on Beck. He seems to have progressed just as much as Stetson has. I’d like to see BVG run the full offense as well, but I doubt he’d do as well just because his reps are limited in practice.
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Now if we only had an easy schedule the first month of the season to break in a new QB. Oh wait.
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2023s stellar September schedule provides the same opportunity.
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Prediction: Beck starts in 2023, BVG hits the portal, and then we get Stockton in 2024 and 2025, but I doubt we keep him past that redshirt Junior season.
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Optimistically they’ll all stay through their commitment up through at least their junior year. Kirby has an extraordinary program of developing backups to starters who end up high draft picks. Hopefully these homegrown QB’s have bought in like the Defense and RB’s and the others.
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While I would certainly hope that we could keep all three into next season, I’m not optimistic. One thing that NFL guys want is a solid resume of meaningful starts/playing time in college. From 2011 to 2021, only 10 NFL quarterbacks had 500 pass attempts in the NFL and played in 24 or fewer games in college with at least 10 pass attempts in each of those 24 or fewer games. Beck or BVG, I think, will be gone to try to get meaningful playing time during the remainder of their eligibility.
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This is actually the best reason for any good QB stuck behind an entrenched starter with only one year separating them to transfer. You need as many starts as possible in college to be a good NFL QB.
If you look at the history of the NFL, as a rule, successful NFL QBs have at least 20 starts in college. QBs with less than 20 starts almost never pan-out, which is why it was so stupid for SanFran to draft Trey Lance. It’s gonna cost Shanahan his job, most likely, and if rumors are true, he didn’t even want Lance he wanted Mac Jones but his GM and Owner overruled him. Oh well, he can cry into his pillow stuffed with $100 bills.
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Well, I would say that there have been starters in the NFL that have 24 or fewer meaningful starts in college that have done well. Cam Newton comes to mind (3 pro bowls and one MVP) as does Mike Vick (4 pro bowls) and Alex Smith (3 pro bowls). But personnel guys definitely put that as an “X” next to someone’s name leading up to the draft. They still might take someone that has less than two seasons of meaningful starts (see, e.g., Matt Cassel [1 start], Mark Sanchez [16 starts], Justin Fields, Mac Jones, and Trey Lance). But the number of guys that stick in the NFL without all those college starts is pretty slim. As I was saying above, in the previous decade there are only 10 guys that have 500 passing attempts in the NFL that played in 24 or fewer games with 10+ passing attempts per game in those 24 games (I think Mac Jones actually made that 11 guys after the 2021 season he had, but I haven’t looked). Think about that…only 10 (or 11) guys in the last decade with 500 passing attempts. 500 pass attempts in their career, not in a season. The NFL average in 2021 for pass attempts per game was a little over 34 per game. That means that a starter throwing the league average of pass attempts would go over 500 career attempts in less than one full season. That means rookies and younger QBs (a) don’t get the number of attempts to get to the average, and (b) don’t stick around long as a starter.
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Mac Jones didn’t have a lot of starts either.
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There are always exceptions that prove the rule. They don’t invalidate the rule.
There are far too many QBs in the NFL who’ve busted out of the league who had less than 20 starts in college and too few NFL QBs who had any kind of success who had less than 20 starts in college to invalidate this rule every time a Cam Newton or a Mac Jones have some success.
Outliers happen, but they’re few and far between. That’s why they’re called outliers.
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Hopefully BVG and Stockton have the same attitude as I.
Love being a Dawg and
FUCK THE NFL!
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How are you, Ranger?
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Rockn a basic load and full ruck. How you doing, Right Reverend?
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Overflowing with the love of Jesus and bourbon….
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My Dawg!
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I’d have to agree, sadly. I think BVG is gone.
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I hope that Stockton and BVG will be patient and wait their turn. The Dawgs need reliable backup developing into starters. The Georgia mindset isn’t something a portal mercenary can gain during one offseason. That development process is important to team cohesion.
I wonder if Gunner is still able to get home to raise his cattle? I don’t see how he could. I left a pair of trained beagles/rabbit dogs with mom and specific instructions on their care. Came home the first week in January my freshman year to hunt and those two worthless mutts were laid up in a card box lined with my old hunting coat on the back porch. Too full, fat and warm to give a shit about running rabbits. Damn yard carp. They were cold and lonely and missing me was mom’s excuse.
SMFH.
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It would be easier to forecast the price of Bitcoin next year than predicting the UGA QB situation. There are too many unknowns from Monken’s status to the portal market to injuries. I’m going to keep my head in 2022 and enjoy the ride.
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Finally – REASON! – Nice input
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These are the Saturdays I’ve wished for and plan to enjoy everyone.
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I wanted BVG to develop into more, but I sure am hearing a lot about Stockton; he may have passed BVG. Only time will tell.
One thing is for sure, after this season, the QB race is going to be fun to watch.
On a side note, “Yard carp” has been added to my personal lexicon.
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Good rabbit hunting on the Broad River in southern Elbert County, Ranger. I miss it.
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Oh yeah. Got those big ol buck rabbits/cane-cutters down in the bottoms of the Broad. One is all my game pouch would hold with the back legs hanging out one side and head & front legs sticking out t’other. I still kick a buck rabbit up out of brush piles down on the creek while squirrel hunting. I miss hearing the dogs crying on a hot trail.
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Back in the day, a guy in my church there had some good beagles. Rarely went home empty handed after a rabbit hunt on the Broad River bottoms.
You and I have been watching or listening to our Dawgs a long, long time. I’ve never seen teams like Kirby’s before. Nice to sit back and watch the complete eviscerations of our enemies.
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I was at UGA from January ‘80-December ‘83. 43-4-1. Three SEC and one National Championship. Those were some tough young men and many are my friends. Coach Dooley ran an excellent program and I’ll never criticize those teams.
However, what Kirby has established firmly at Georgia is simply extraordinary. In six years he has made Georgia THE destination for coaches and players with the talent and mindset needed to win championships for years to come.
My favorite meal is still fried rabbit & gravy with rice and biscuits.
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THE destination is right. Let schools offer their collective payments. Kirby is on the muther, ahead of the game, and drinking their milkshakes in comparison.
Everytime I see rabbits come in my yard here in Owensboro, I wonder how they would taste with some biscuits and gravy. My supper tonight was severely lacking in comparison.
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Rabbit in my yard? I’ll be having fried rabbit soon.
😉
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I really wish we’d gotten to see a little more of Brock Vandagriff in mop up duty last week, but it wasn’t in the card. Beck has looked better than we’ve ever seen him in his appearances so far this season. With all of the buzz about Stockton, I wonder if Vandagriff might end up being the odd man out. It worries me a little because he’s obviously got history and ties to Lincoln Riley, being committed to him at OU before he switched to Georgia. I wonder if we might be sending him back to USC as the player to be named later in the JT Daniels trade, so to speak. I have no doubt that we are going to have a great starting quarterback next year and I’m hopeful we’ll still have a great backup next year too. I don’t expect us to have four solid options in that room next year like we do this year.
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The only problem with that is the current USC QB, Caleb Williams, is the same class as Vandergriff. I guess there might be a year separation due to redshirting now, but still not much different than the UGA situation other than Gunner on heels in the class behind him.
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Oh man, this is getting me fired up like we just signed a 5 star o lineman. I like this new bit of rat poison. Go Gunner!
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I’m not worried about the QB situation at all. In CLS/Monken I trust.
You won’t find me fretting unless all three current backups hit the transfer portal. And that ain’t happening.
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I remember watching him as a junior on an ESPN high school game of the week, and that dude already looked good. I hate to compare him to something so evil, but I saw some Tebow in him– big dude with a rocket arm not afraid to tuck it and hit somebody.
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A lot can happen from point A to point B, but a retired high school coach who saw both play more than a few times live and in person told me that Stockton was going to be the QB1 for us and he’d bet his pension on it.
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In a bold move, The University of Georgia and SEC announced today the addition of the UGA scout team as a full member to the SEC in 2024. Co-HCs will be Mike Bobo and Will Muschamp. Commissioner Sankey noted that Alabama was afforded the same opportunity but the university declined stating that coach Saban felt he could not develop enough talent depth as it is. Sankey avoided further comment when asked if this was a move to get more conference teams in the playoffs, but just smiled and left the podium. Coach Smart noted that UGA II will play the Florida gators on a home & home basis which resolves his previous recruiting concerns about Jacksonville. Rumors out of Austin Texas are that Arch Manning will decommit and come to Athens under a new NIL deal and understanding that his Uncle Eli will be the new QB coach and OC.
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UGA ST is a 43 point favorite over Tech
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LOL. Mocking Tech never gets old.
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Arch wanted to come to UGA. Told him we already got one.
It’s very nice, you Louisiana kanigget.
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+1 for the Monty Python reference. Their humor never gets old.
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I was Scout Team POY twice (Defense once, Special Teams once) while at UGA, and rarely touched the field on Saturdays… so allow me to tamper this excitement with just a small dose of reality.
Kirby said something important in that quote. Scout Team is a much easier assignment than playing our actual offense/defense. It removes nearly all thought and allows you to just go play ball. It develops a lot through physical reps, but not much through mental reps. The 1st team gets the mental reps by the scout team being/doing ONE thing very well on each play. The goal is to show the defense something, and then challenge them to beat the play, when it is run perfectly. The scouts aren’t given choices to make – they’re given a direct course of action.
That’s why guys who shine on the scout team sometimes don’t make the transition to heavy PT/ starter. (And sometimes they’re just undersized for their position by about 100lbs compared to the future NFL HoFers they play behind). They haven’t had the mental reps they need to compete at their highest level at game time.
That’s not to say Gunner can’t be great – it’s just to say take it easy on the expectations. Stet had a year of Scout Team and a season of Juco starting before becoming a backup (eventual starter) at UGA, and folks were… well let’s just say the reception was “mixed.” Dawgwilling, we’re still a couple years from concerning ourselves with his development.
Go Dawgs.
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Seems to me the next area coaches like Smart and Saban find an advantage is player development. A lot of average teams recruit guys with potential, invest in them, and get a solid player their junior and senior year. Kirby is always looking for an advantage.
So, what if there were some rule changes and SEC teams could have a developmental team that received their own coaching and “first team” reps? These teams could even scrimmage each other within the SEC.
Basically a coach like Bobo runs the developmental team with a focus on creating future starters. SEC teams have the resources to do this.
Am I crazy?
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I think Kirby is doing great with player development. Saban? I’m not so sure anymore.
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I agree, but I think there is always more Kirby can squeeze out, and he is always trying to squeeze a little bit more out to widen the gap between UGA and the rest.
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People are STILL raving about Saban as the best developer while he’s regularly brought in the most 5 stars. Meanwhile, Kirby has ACTUALLY developed several 3 star and walk-ons into great contributors and and even stars from day 1 at Georgia. I’m not saying Kirby is a better developer but it kinda seems that way in my slightly biased eyes. ((Shrugs))
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“That little QB they call him mailman he’ll prob never play here but I’m gonna bring him in as a walk-on bc he tough as shit” – Kirby Smart
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Who wouldn’t want a QB named Gunner Stockton leading you to a NC? Hell, the QB room is full of great QB names now that I really think about it.
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He’s right ya know ^^^
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I was thinking the same way, with a name like Gunner you gotta be excited. Go Dawgs!
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Saban is the new portal master. There I said it.
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Saban?
That fuckn loser.
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Gotta do wha’cha gotta do when Georgia is threatening your dynasty.
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Be still, my heart.
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Hello, my name is Harold, and I’m a Dawg Porn addict…
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Just for giggles, I’d like to see our offensive weapons in Ralph Friedgen’s Tech offense. Shotgun to single back to flexbone but instead of 3 RBs, it would be 1 RB and two or three of our great TEs.
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With our mobile QBs
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We would get flagged immediately of illegal formation, gratuitous athleticism!
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We already got flagged for tackling too hard.
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That brings to mind a few years back Alec Ogletree body slamming a tech runner in Sanford Stadium before it was Dooley Field. The ACC officials never blinked.
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Does this mean Stetquavaious isnt coming back for a seventh year?
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I was stoked when Gunner flipped. Doubly stoked to hear that he’s doing good work on the scout team. Don’t care for Beck and the light for BVG is dim if it’s on at all.
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Under Kirby we have never been able to predict a future or successful QB or both, no matter how hard we try or guess but I trust it will play out. The bigger question at a later date, will be what happens if Monken leaves & what system the next guy wants to install & the QB that best fits that. At this point I’m gonna enjoy this Stetson ride until further notice.
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