How do you know that a head coach is too protective of his quarterback? He does not inch back from supporting him openly. That has been the case for Kirby Smart and his quarterback, Gunner Stockton. ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum has shown concerns about Stockton. He curated a segment of “Fine/Not Fine” on ESPN SportsCenter podcast. “I’d say that’s a big not fine,” said Finebaum.

It did not fit well with Smart, but he took it in good spirits. Guarding Stockton, Smart shared, “I didn’t miss it. Yeah, I’m excited. Gunner (Stockton) got the message, man.” So, it’s clear that in the Gunner Stockton vs. Ryan Puglisi debate, Smart counts heavily on Stockton. But does that mean the doubts are over?

Absolutely not. While the doubts keep piling up for the Stockton, a former Georgia QB star, Jake Fromm, believes that Smart may have something to do with this doubt surrounding Stockton. Fromm, who started all 14 games in 2019 for Georgia and completed 234 of 385 passes (60.8%) for 2860 yards and 24 TDs, knows the program better. On the July 9th episode of the DawgNation podcast, Fromm stirred the pot.

“There is a guy out there, a very prominent guy, who is really good at kind of arbitrarily floating these stories out there that catch wind,” he said. “They usually end up being very good for a specific team that plays in the red and black. So I wonder if he had anything to do with this, and I’m talking about coach Kirby Smart here of kind of playing this narrative into his hands.” It’s important to note that Smart didn’t create this narrative, but he very well could be stoking the fire to make it a bigger deal than it is. Why so?

The reason is plain and simple. Smart wants to instill a sense of hunger in Stockton to prove others wrong. We have already seen that from the Georgia head coach. Smart stuck to playing this narrative during Georgia’s second National Championship season in 2022. After bagging the Natty, a UGA player was shown calling out college football fans who supposedly thought UGA would only win six games that season. And the rest was history. Maybe Smart is now giving another try to this narrative to work in Stockton’s favor to pull the strings. 

“Thinking from his [Smart’s] perspective,” said Fromm. “‘This is kind of right where I want the team, right where I want Gunner [Stockton]. I want Gunner in this hungry mindset, but I don’t want to put too much on his shoulders. I don’t want to put too much pressure or stress and just feeling like the weight of the world is on his shoulders.’ Man, I want this guy to go out there, play free, play relentless, and not feel like he has to do every single thing for the team and for the team to have success.’” For so long, Fromm has been the ceiling for Stockton, and he landed some support from the legend himself.   

Aaron Murray doubles down on what makes Gunner Stockton special

Fromm went 35-7 as Georgia’s starter and led them to three straight SEC title games—not just because of his skill, but because of his leadership. And former Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray came up with a confident take on Stockton. What was the topic of discussion? Former Smart’s quarterback Carson Beck’s off-field presence. Long story short, there has been some sort of a disconnect between Beck and his teammates, as Murray shared, “There wasn’t this guy that was a true locker room guy.”

On the contrary, Smart’s 2025 starter, Stockton, has already won the trust of his teammates. “Guys kind of rallied around Gunner Stockton. They had a little bit more of belief in him as maybe person, just a human being.” Later on in a conversation with Connor O’Gara, Murray shared, “Jake Fromm, kind of built like me, 6’1” 6’2”. Not super athletic, average arm strength, but guess what dude worked his bu- – off. And I once again, I’m not saying that he didn’t do any of these things. I’m just saying Jake Fromm did these to the extreme, was an incredible teammate, made guys around him better. Did the right things on and off the field, was the first one in the last one out. Always studying the film.” So, did Smart find the quintessential Fromm touch in Stockton?

“To me, that’s what Gunner is,” Murray came with a green pass. While Gunner Stockton is the locker room buddy who lifts up the team spirit, he is still considered a “liability” when it comes to gridiron actions. The quarterback started only once, in the Sugar Bowl loss, where he threw for 234 yards and a touchdown. On top of this, uncertainties mount up on the fact that the arm is not as big as Smart’s former quarterback. So, Jake Fromm’s backing has raised the bar—will Stockton reach it or crack under the weight?