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Kirby Smart shares how this key Gunner Stockton trait will help Georgia in 2026
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Kirby Smart shares how this key Gunner Stockton trait will help Georgia in 2026
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I blame Maye's OC for not developing a game plan designed to get the ball out of his hands quckly and have mnore check downs and taking what the defense gave them. He kept holding onto the ball waiting for downfield routes to open up and he kept getting pressured or sacked. Would it have changed the outcome? Probably not. But it would have made for a more competitive game.
Gunner has got to improve in all facets of his game for Georgia to go further next season. And the supporting cast around him has got to play better from tbe OL to the receivers. At this point, we have no key proven elite playmakers on offense, so somebody has got to step up. Who will it be?
I think Taylor is going to be given every chance, he was a five star so they have money invested in him. If I were him I would definitely not want to wear #11. Read somewhere that he was given a lot of snaps from the slot in the Sugar Bowl practices. He needs to gain weight and muscle to compete in the SEC. They think a lot of the transfer from Tech. IMO the tight end room will compete for snaps this year, and the freshman Prothro is supposed to be a pass catching freak. One thing is for sure, Gunner won't have Branch to pass it behind the line to and let him run, so something is going to have to change in that regard.
There are no absolutes concerning the play of players in CFB. Same goes for our Dawgs. It’s a wait and see proposition. But I Believe in Gunner. I have faith and trust that he Can get better and Will get better. I feel the same way about our OL and our receivers and TEs. I feel our Defense could be Elite.
Last season was a Very good season but missed being a Great season. I believe our coaches in all facets of the program will build on the good things of which there were Many. And either solve or greatly diminish the problems of which compared to the good things were less. There Are question marks Indeed even problems. But I’m counting on full buy in from our players and the coaching staff aggressively working with those players to solve those issues.
Motivation shouldn’t be an issue as the Sugar Bowl left a bad taste in the mouths of the players here last year. New guys coming in from either HS or the TP will want to make their mark on the program and showcase what they can do. So until I see other wise I’m holding the belief that the 2026 Dawgs will be a very formidable team. Go Dawgs !!
What an injustice it would have been had Maye been given the MVP of the season over Stafford. Just look at how each did against Seattle.
Stockton has two problems. First, his height and throwing style result in many blocked or tipped throws which can easily turn into interceptions. His biggest problem, though, is that he seems to just follow his primary passer duing a play. He doesn't seem to be able to go through his progressions or find the open receiver at the bottom of his progressions and then quickly gets happy feet and takes off running. Sometimes his running works but usually not so well in these situations. Stockton's experience is valuable, but he definitely is not Heisman or NFL material so our expectations should be reasonable for 2026.
Just got my tickets in the mail today. I hear this year they might go all the way!
It would take a lot for me to downvote someone on here. Seems some people are easily triggered. For me personally I don't downvote people in general. I think everyone is entitled to an opinion While some opinions are better than others (which I am quick to upvote) I don't feel the need to downvote someone who has a different opinion than mine unless what they're saying is just outrageous or someone is obviously trying to be a troll. In the several years I have commented on here I can count on my 2 hands how many times I have bothered to downvote someone.
I don't always agree with anyone on here, some maybe moreso than others, but for the life of me I can't see what the micro-agrression over what MontanDawg posted is all about. THere have been headlines on here that have merely said what he said. Gunner does need to improve, Kirby and Bobo have said such -are you downvoting them?
We don't have an elite offensive weapon at the moment( I believe he meant in the WR room). Hopefully some young guy will emerge or Canion will be him, but he isn't at the moment!
Good grief! Come back on here and argue otherwise if you think otherwise. Make your case! Don't be the guy that hides behind their keyboard.
Anyone who has played ANY sport wants to improve from game to game and season to season. Gunner and every other returning player needs to improve. However, I am a big supporter of Gunner. As I have said more than once on this site, he’s a leader, he’s tough as nails, and he loves his teammates and they love him. He is the kind of guy I want in the huddle with me. We’re fortunate to have Gunner as our QB. Heck, he finished 7th in the Heisman voting!
Connor points out how the offense was often better when we were behind during games. Part of that is Gunner’s competitiveness. Perhaps an even bigger part is the fact that the play calling was much better in those situations. Gunner has a strong arm. He’s 6’1”. Adding two inches would not prevent passes from being batted down. Stetson is 5’10”. Height ain’t the problem. Need better pass protection. Need more aggressive play calling when we’re ahead 21-12. Keep the petal to the metal. Gunner is also very good in the hurry-up offense. Need to use that more during the game.
I think we do have some elite players on offense. Delp and Luckie need to be targeted more. Humphries needs to be targeted more. Taylor is very fast - can he catch the ball or is he another Smith? Don’t know yet. Canion might be really good. Some of the incoming freshmen seem to be good enough to help as well. The talent is there. Hopefully getting a new OL coach will help. I want a new OC as well, but that ain’t happening. The offense will be no better than the play calling. Hope it improves.
I’m Not the infamous down voter. But I honestly can’t see how Anyone can say we Absolutely don’t have an Elite player on O. Unless their basing that Totally on past results. Meaning our coaches aren’t able to coach them up !!
That’s like being on the interstate and saying there are NO gas stations just because you can’t see them At That Moment !! Go another mile and Poof there’s a gas station !!
Take for example Canion from Tech. Just because he wasn’t elite at Tech doesn’t mean he Won’t be at UGA. If we don’t have Coaches that can coach these players up then maybe firing them is the answer. But I don’t see that as being necessary at this point in time. Goodness Gracious Good Gobbly Goo !! At Least let the season Start and get in a few games before we start pronouncing we have NO Elite players !! We CANT improve !! Oh No we’re Doomed !!
And NO that’s Not rose colored glasses that’s waiting to SEE after a few of the more Competitive games what we have and might not have. I mean NO sarcasm at ANY ONE !! And Yall Might be right. But saying we have NO Elite players based on Last year is absolutely saying that players can’t improve !! Either that or you have some sort of crystal ball the rest of us don’t have !! Quite a few Dawgs fans said we’d go 8-4 Maybe 9-3 last year Right Here on DN !! But the Team exceeded that By Far!!
We ALL wanted to get deeper into the playoffs but to proclaim last year as a Fail is inaccurate and false !! And though credit is scanty here, Gunner DID improve Allot. NOW He and the rest of the Dawgs need to improve More !!
I Can’t say in Absolutes they will. I’m Not a prophet !! But Neither are the folks with the more pessimistic view !! The Fact is we Don’t Know whether we have any Elites or Not !! And WONT Know until we’ve faced some of the more competitive teams. THEN the comments at THAT time will be better grounded in fact !!
I see Huge potential !! I guess some of Yall see Huge Doom !! I’ll Trust Kirby Smart, his Coaches, and the players. UNTIL they give me a solid reason Not to. And not advancing deeper into the playoffs last year is Not sufficient For Me.
We had a Very Good season in Extremely Challenging Times to BUILD On. Let’s SEE what happens is my take !! Again No sarcasm at Anyone. And No down votes !! I think for the purpose of debate “question marks” would be more appropriate than absolutes.. That fits Both sides of the debate.
We have to replace roughly 150 WR pass receptions with players who have caught very little. That's not pessimism, it's just a fact. Canion had 33 last year. Humpries had 18 that makes 51 together. IF they catch this season what thyey caught last season, we only need again roughly another 100 catches from 2-3 players or maybe only 1-2 players. Who will that be? I mean we know who we have on the team, their names, but no one is a proven commodity as of yet. We'll hope that Canion can be better than CY and NT were together and that the young and talented but yet to be proven players will step up, We can have hope!
I may be wrong and stand to be corrected but I would surmise that out of the top yearly NCAA conteneders (and now Indiana) we have the least experience at WR. Sigh!
But the same thing can easily be said about the WRs of 2025 with except Maybe Branch. And Even Branch could have been a question mark in preseason as just because he did pretty well at USC didn’t mean he’d absolutely have similar or better success at UGA.
Some players are replaced Every year. There’s no need in my view to think that players like Canion can’t be coached up. And we’ve not even seen a decent showing of T. Taylor due to his way early injury. My point is we can ALL speculate in a positive or negative view. But None of us will know for sure what we have Until the Dawgs have faced a couple of games against reasonably decent competition. The cupcake games won’t tell us a whole lot either way.
Hate to continue to beat this dead horse to pieces. But Even though the Dawgs didn’t advance deeper into the playoffs. They Far exceeded numerous Dawgs fans And media expectations. So to me it boils down to first the Coaches then the players executing at an elite level what they’ve been trained.
So we again in my view reach a place where ask Can we trust the coaches to get the players better Yes or No ? Branch had a considerably better season at UGA than he did at USC. So one would think that the coaches Can do that. And Gunner as a First Year Starter did in fact improve considerably. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t need to improve More. As of course he does !! The whole team does !! So No it’s not a bad thing to acknowledge that there Are question marks Even problems.
You @reddawg1 and others are certainly not wrong or silly for pointing out problems And asking questions. But I don’t think I’m naive or ignorant about the Dawgs for Believing they Can improve. I Know one thing for sure their gonna get after it Hard in pursuit of being better. That much I’m confident of !! Go Dawgs !!