The Carson Beck x Shedeur Sanders rivalry to become the top QB this year is gonna take a massive turn. And it ain’t looking good for Beck and Kirby Smart. 2023 was a bad year for Shedeur. Although the kid managed to secure more than 30 touchdowns with a completion rate of 69%, he still went on to have a 9.8% sack rate on his dropbacks. This also made him the most sacked QB during the season. Now why did this happen? Well, first Shedeur did not have the proper skill to survive in the pockets and second, there was no one to protect him on the field. The same fate is awaiting Carson Beck this year.

On August 13th, DawgNation covered what Kirby Smart had to say regarding the injuries sustained by some players during the fall camp.“We’ve been lucky so far; we haven’t had significant injuries, but we have a lot of guys that are soft tissue, beat up, banged up, and we’re trying to get them back,” Smart mentioned. However, if we look more closely, things don’t look fine. 3 major players have had massive injuries. DL Warren Brinson, OLB Chaz Chambliss, and OL Jared Wilson. Brinson and Wilson are suffering from Achilles and Chambliss had a hamstring injury. This completely renders the O-line useless for Carson Beck. If we go back and look at what happened to Shedeur last year, the gravity of the situation becomes much clearer.

As Mike Sanford had mentioned back on Jul 10th, Shedeur was walking on the field without proper protection from the linemen. If the O-line issue isn’t fixed before the season starts, then Beck could have many issues in the pockets. Daniel Jeremiah, back in his scouting report, had mentioned, “Beck excels from the pocket and plays to his size.” However, he needs his team with him. Without a proper O-line, defenders will swarm Beck and his accuracy won’t save him. However, that shouldn’t be the only problem that could come to haunt the Bulldogs.

A new Tide

On the other side of the road, Kalen DeBoer and his ace QB Jalen Milroe are standing tall to compete with the Bulldogs. Seeing an impressive 70% increase in overall accuracy in Milroe’s playstyle ever since DeBoer took over the Crimson Tide, it’s gonna be hell for the Bulldogs. Even during the scrimmage, we saw how much Milroe had improved in his overall performance. Not only that, DeBoer has made sure that the defense stays strong as well.

With Keon Sabb and Malachi Moore on the defensive end, Milroe will be protected well on the field. Kirby Smart has to figure out something if he wants to make his ace the next Heisman winner. Else, Shedeur and Milroe are quite ready to take that crown.