Does Georgia really have a Stockton-Puglisi quarterback battle in 2025?

Stockton was far from dominant in those two appearances, but he also showed enough to demonstrate why he was the first quarterback off the bench.

“I’ll have to always get better,“ Stockton said after the game. ”Just watch the tape and the little stuff. Just watch it back. I know I can play better.”

Stockton is the only one of Georgia’s four quarterbacks with a collegiate pass attempt. Redshirt freshman Ryan Puglisi is the only other one who has spent a season in college.

Puglisi is seen as the biggest threat to beat out Stockton. But even then, how real of a chance does Puglisi have of beating out someone who everyone in the Georgia program has raved about?

“Watching Gunner be a backup the whole entire time, doing everything the same exact way that Carson was. And I always followed along, kind of did the same exact thing, just in case,” Puglisi said before the Sugar Bowl. “Also, at practice, they put you in situations, whether you’re the third guy, the fourth guy, or anything like that, just to be prepared when your number’s called.”

Puglisi’s number will be called this spring. Georgia will have to see how he looks in working with the first-team offense.

Even while Stockton has an edge in experience, Georgia is a program that is predicated on competition. That’s true at every position, including quarterback.

A year ago, Puglisi was just trying to get his feet underneath him after arriving from high school. With Beck and Stockton ahead of him on the depth chart, Georgia was able to bring him along at his own pace.

Puglisi didn’t play in Georgia’s spring game last year because of a knee injury. This time around, he figures to be one of the main attractions of Georgia’s spring game.

How real of a competition Georgia has at quarterback entering 2025 remains to be seen. Stockton has an advantage in experience that makes it hard to see him being usurped.

Of course, many assumed Beck was Georgia’s backup quarterback entering the 2021 season. But when JT Daniels went down with an injury, Stetson Bennett ended up beating out Beck. Bennett went on to lead Georgia to back-to-back national titles.

Bennett, though, had an edge in experience that Puglisi does not have. He’s playing catch-up to Stockton in that sense.

Even if Puglisi has a ton of natural talent, there’s a knowledge gap in Mike Bobo’s offensive system that he is trying to make up.

At the very least, Puglisi will have to do as Stockton previously did. Gaining ground, even if he’s not making headlines with how he’s playing.

“He’s not a big talker. He doesn’t expect you to recognize him and acknowledge him as the guy that’s doing extra work,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said of Stockton. “He just does it. He doesn’t look for credit for it. He embodies what a great teammate is; and he’s been that way since I’ve known him, which has been a long time. People respect that nowadays. They appreciate that, especially in their quarterback, because he’s not a “look at me” type guy. It’s just not who he is."

Puglisi recognizes how Stockton helps connect the rest of the team.

He hopes to emulate Stockton in that regard, knowing Stockton is one of the more beloved players on the team.

Seeing that level of connection up close was one of the biggest learning experiences for Puglisi in his first season in Athens.

“I think just being a part of this team with these guys, having love for guys, for a team. I mean, we talk about it all the time,” Puglisi said. “We need to just have the love for other people’s success. Being part of something that’s bigger than you, that’s been really cool for me.”

Puglisi has a chance to show he can be a starting-caliber quarterback for Georgia this spring. Smart likely won’t name a starter this spring, but there’s also a chance we’ll see this quarterback battle play out similarly to what we saw in 2023, when Beck was a clear front-runner and never let Stockton or Brock Vandagriff seriously push for the starting job.

Even in the event Puglisi doesn’t reach the moon, he can still carve a role as Georgia’s backup quarterback. The Bulldogs have kicked around the idea of adding someone via the transfer portal. Puglisi building off what he did this past season, when he beat out transfer quarterback Jaden Rashada to be Georgia’s No. 3 and then No. 2 quarterback, might lessen Georgia’s want to just take a body.

Quarterback is going to be a question mark for Georgia entering the 2025 season. Even if Puglisi exceeds all expectations, there’s going to be doubt until he actually throws a competitive pass for the Bulldogs.

But Stockton was ready to go as Georgia’s backup last season, and it helped the Bulldogs win an SEC championship. Puglisi needs to prove he can be a competitive backup, in the event his number gets called.