Gunner Stockton Checks the Final Box

Georgia Football enrollee Gunner Stockton was in San Antonio for the All-American Bowl prior to going back to campus on Sunday evening and he checked the final box for me.

I've seen Gunner Stockton quite a bit over the last four years. From the moment he entered high school, the recruiting world was well aware of the signal-caller from Rabun County, Georgia. Kirby Smart landing the Kirby-copter on the practice field your freshman year will do that. 

Though, despite the fact that I've seen him dominate the high school circuit — becoming one of the most statically decorated quarterbacks in Georgia high school history — I've always had one last question, one last box that needed to be checked off. 

Will the physicality translate? 

At 6'1, 214 pounds, Gunner Stockton plays the quarterback position differently than most today. He accounted for 18,024 total yards of offense in 53 games as a high schooler, a Georgia state record. With 24% of those total yards via the run game. 

And we aren't talking about your standard read option ladies and gentlemen. If you've seen Gunner Stockton play, you've seen QB draw, QB power, and QB counter heavily involved in the running scheme. These are more conventional run plays, run plays that require a bruising style more so than an elusive style. And a body to hold up. 

I'm not taking any shots at Georgia high school football when I tell you that I was curious about whether or not that style of play would translate into SEC football. 

I was wondering how a guy who ran the ball 11.4 times per game over 53 career games could hold up physically in the SEC, as any evaluator should of any quarterback with such a profile. 

Well, this week in San Antonio, I got my answers. 

Stockton looked like the same Gunner I've seen up to this point during practices. An insane amount of horsepower in his right arm, throws with touch and anticipation, uses his eyes correctly, and leads in his own way. Those same things I knew coming into the week. 

I was however more curious what it would look like when he's allowed to actually play football when the game starts. Gunner Stockton doesn't play quarterback, he plays football. And he played the same brand of football he'd played in high school on Saturday, and it translated. 

He spun out of pressure, scrambled and slid for a first down, and then to finish off the scoring drive on a QB draw he decided an All-Star game played the day before he enrolls for good at Georgia was the perfect time to lower his head and run over the strong safety. 

On a field filled with Power5 football players, Gunner Stockton still did Gunner Stockton things, that's enough for me. 

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