Georgia needs more from everybody, not just Gunner Stockton

Gunner Stockton has to improve heading into his second full season as the starting quarterback if Georgia hopes to fulfill its goals. However, the onus to improve doesn’t fall squarely on Stockton’s shoulders.

During a Tuesday interview with 680TheFan, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart acknowledged the need for Stockton to improve. Yet, there are things outside of the Tiger, Georgia, native that also have to fall in place.

“I think Gunner would be the first to tell you he wants to be more efficient. He wants to be more explosive. That comes with having explosive playmakers around him,” Smart said. “That comes with having an offensive line that gives him time to do it. That comes with his legs, which he did last year, and had explosive plays through his legs.”

Stockton Needs Help

Smart agreed with the sentiment that the quarterback often gets too much credit and too much blame. It often seems the burden of improvement is being put solely on Stockton. Yet, to Smart’s point, Stockton’s success will also depend on the players around him.

While the Bulldogs do bring back more starters on both sides of the ball than they did a year ago, there are still unknowns, specifically on offense. Georgia enters the offseason looking to replace five of its top six pass catchers from a season ago.

That includes Georgia’s four wide-outs in Zachariah Branch, Colbie Young, Dillon Bell, and Noah Thomas. Yet despite losing its more experienced receivers, Georgia only brought in Isiah Canion at receiver through the transfer portal.

The onus is being placed on the likes of Sacovie White-Helton, Talyn Taylor, CJ Wiley, and Landon Roldan, among other young, inexperienced targets, to step up.

But it won’t just be the offense that needs to take a leap.

“It’s just all around how do we become more explosive and how do we become a better turnover machine on defense, because ultimately, you want to be really good on offense, you need to be good on defense,” Smart said. “They complement each other. So, him specifically, there are all kinds of things he can do to get better, but it revolves around a lot of guys doing things around him better.”