Georgia's Quarterback Room Continues to Defy the Odds

Georgia's quarterback is packed with special talent, but it's more than just skill sets that make that quarterback room different from all of the others.

College football and college sports in general have undergone massive changes over the past couple of years. The transfer portal was introduced which has allowed college athletes to essentially become free agents, and the developments of NIL have only compounded the change. Both of those factors have also made it that much more difficult for programs and coaches to keep players on the roster, but more importantly, keep them content in their current situation. 

In this day and age of college football, managing a roster is a tumultuous task for any coaching staff. The transfer portal reopened on April 15, and by 7 PM that day, 85 FBS scholarship players had entered the transfer portal. Out of those 85 players, 31 of them were players at a power five program. It's the nature of the sport. Players are going to come and go from programs for different reasons, but it can also put programs in a tough situation. Specifically at the quarterback spot. 

A lot of time, players will enter the portal in order to seek more playing time with a different team. Either too many guys are standing in front of them on the depth chart, or they just haven't quite figured things out with their current team. For quarterbacks, especially ones that were highly recruited coming out of high school, they typically don't stay with a program for more than two years if they aren't finding themselves on the field because there is always a program looking for a quarterback. But that hasn't been the case at Georgia, and it has made them very different from the others. 

Prior to the transfer portal reopening, 115 FBS scholarship quarterbacks had entered the portal. There are a total of 130 FBS football programs in college football. But somehow Georgia has been able to hold on to their quarterbacks. Carson Beck, Brock Vandagriff, and Gunner Stockton were all highly recruited coming out of high school, and now all reside on the same roster. Beck was a part of the 2020 class, Vandagriff joined the team in 2020, and Stockton right after. None of them have a single college start to their name, yet all of them continue to stay put in Athens. 

Georgia quarterback Carson Beck warming up ahead of the spring scrimmage. (Photo by Brooks Austin)

Think back to some of the recent big-name quarterbacks to switch schools. Quinn Ewers left Ohio State after being enrolled for five months, Caleb Williams left Oklahoma after one season, and his teammate Spencer Rattler joined him in the portal. Even Justin Fields left Georgia after sitting on the bench behind Jake Fromm for one season. Every single one of those names were considerably highly sought after coming out of high school and are some of the recent examples of how quickly the transfer portal can affect a quarterback room. 

After Saturday's scrimmage, Georgia tight end Brock Bowers spoke about his quarterbacks, Beck and Vandagriff specifically, and said, "They both come out every day just ready to work. One of them has a good day, and one of them has a bad day sometimes. They always just bounce back and keep grinding. They're making each other better just competing in that room.”

Vandagriff also spoke about how close all of the quarterbacks are. He highlighted a specific moment during the scrimmage where he started cheering for Beck after he threw his first touchdown of the day, despite being on the other team. It's not every day that you see another player cheering and pulling for the same player they are competing against every day at practice.

While all three of Georgia's quarterbacks may not finish their careers in Athens, their patience and commitment up to this point should be commended in the current climate of college football. It's hard enough for most programs to keep just one quarterback on the roster, but Georgia as they have shown over the past two years, is not like the rest. And one thing that keeps them separated is managing to hold on to their three immensely talented quarterbacks. Even in the midst of a quarterback battle. 

Other Georgia News:

• NCAA Adopts New Recruiting Rules for Visits
• Amarius Mims' "Time Has Come", Talks Through Growth at UGA
• OPINION: Carson Beck Makes it Clear, He Is Georgia's Top Option at QB

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