Carson Beck is the man of the moment for the Georgia Bulldogs. Last year, he led them to a 13-1 season and even won the team the Orange Bowl. This feat skyrocketed his draft presence, and now experts are hyping him to be the No. 1 pick next year in the NFL.

But does this mean Georgia’s golden era is ending? Coach Kirby Smart has a bunch of other quarterbacks ready to step up, but the competition is about to get really intense.

Daniel Monroe from the Locked On Bulldogs podcast dropped some truth bombs on his latest episode. He said, “I think it can be easy to forget that there is a quarterback competition during this year’s fall camp.” With Beck as the star, everyone’s kinda chillin’, not really thinking about what’s next. Monroe explained that Beck’s created this super comfy zone: “it can kind of lull you into a bit of laziness a bit of a false sense of security.”

Now Beck had to wait his turn, too. He was a backup for years behind Stetson Bennett, but last season, he finally took the reins and crushed it. He completed over 70% of his passes, racked up 3,914 yards, and scored 24 touchdowns. Bennett has set the bar high with back-to-back championships, and Beck picked up right where he left off. Now it’s Beck’s turn to pass the torch.

Monroe said, “As Georgia fans, it’s easy to forget there’s a quarterback competition.” Ideally, you’d have one clear-cut starter, and then the next guy would be ready to take over. But that’s not happening in Georgia right now. It’s a wide-open race, and the competition will be fierce.

The post-Carson Beck era in Georgia

Carson Beck was the man at Georgia, but he had a couple of guys breathing down his neck. Brock Vandagriff and Gunner Stockton were also the starting QBs along with Beck in the 2022 season. Now, Vandagriff took off to Kentucky, and with Beck heading to the NFL, Stockton looks like the next big thing. Daniel Monroe said, “Everyone’s sure Gunner Stockton is the guy.” He was the backup last year, completing 63% of his passes, and he got some real game time in the Orange Bowl.

But don’t count out Jaden Rashada, the new guy from Arizona. People are kind of forgetting about him, but he’s a real five-star talent. He struggled a bit last year, completing just 53% of his passes with the Arizona team, but maybe Kirby Smart can work his magic. Then there’s QB Ryan Puglisi, who’s been practicing with the Georgia team but has seen little action. 

With all these guys competing, Monroe thinks “one of the kids is going to transfer” if they don’t get the starting job. Now, with this brutal reality check, it looks like Kirby Smart has a tough decision to make here!