Kirby Smart doesn’t do quiet quarterback rooms. In Athens, even the guy wearing the starter’s crown has to keep his head on a swivel. Gunner Stockton may be the favorite to lead the Bulldogs into 2025. But the HC’s not giving him a red carpet. There’s a stopwatch and a command telling him to run. Because behind him, a freshman is making enough noise to keep that crown just a little uneasy. 

While Ryan Puglisi still lingers in the QB conversation, it’s true freshman Ryan Montgomery who has quietly stolen a slice of the spotlight. On the August 13 episode of UGA Football on Dawg Post, his name came up for all the right reasons. Matt DeBary reiterated how Kirby Smart gave him the spotlight during his media speech. “He talks about Ryan Montgomery, the true freshman quarterback who missed pretty much the entire 2024 season, his senior season. He got hurt game one, missed the rest of the season,” he said. “But the kid can really play.” Yeah, he showed up at fall camp processing Georgia’s offensive playbook like a veteran. 

Ryan Montgomery’s story isn’t your typical elite hype headline. It’s a grind-it-out, defy-the-odds kind of climb. Coming out of Findlay, Ohio, he was a 4-star prospect, ranked the No. 191 player nationally and the 14th-best QB in the 2025 class. He was even a finalist for Ohio’s Mr. Football before his senior season ended in a cruel twist with an ACL tear in 2024. Most quarterbacks in his shoes would’ve been buried in the depth chart for at least a year, lost behind the veterans while trying to get healthy. But he flipped the script. 

Despite missing spring football at Georgia while still rehabbing, Ryan Montgomery walked into fall camp and immediately proved he was both healthy and prepared. “Mentally, he gets it,” Kirby Smart said after practice. “He’s very into the mental side of it. He throws a very catchable b—, very accurate passer. A little overwhelmed at times and probably thinking too much in terms of, we give the quarterback a lot and we give the freshman quarterback a lot because it’s a lot greater than what they’re used to. But he’s handled that volume well. He does a good job processing information and taking coaching to the field which is a good sign for a quarterback.” That’s a live threat waiting for an opportunity.

Georgia’s QB room is young but not empty. Alongside Montgomery and Puglisi, there’s redshirt freshman Colter Ginn and true freshman Hezekiah Millender. It’s a lineup that might look green now. But Kirby Smart knows the wrong hit in Week 5 could turn one of them into Georgia’s most important player. And that’s when the focus shifts to the Bulldogs’ starter-in-waiting.

Gunner Stockton gets a strong message for 2025

No matter how much Kirby Smart tries to spin Georgia’s storyline, the film doesn’t lie. Last season’s QB mistakes still hang heavy. Carson Beck’s 2024 campaign was littered with an SEC-high 12 interceptions, backbreaking fumbles, and missed reads. Georgia’s receivers didn’t help, leading the nation with 36 drops that cost 665 passing yards per On3’s Clark Brooks. Now it’s Gunner Stockton’s turn to prove he won’t be part two of the same story.

As analyst Ryan Kerley put it, Kirby Smart’s orders are simple. “Limiting mistakes, limiting big time mistakes. Kirby said catastrophic mistakes.” The Bulldogs can lean on the run game, but in the inevitable 3rd-and-7 moments, Gunner Stockton’s inexperience becomes the X-factor. Even Stetson Bennett had his slip-ups with a national title fumble included. Nobody’s immune. Dean Legge added, “Georgia is going to have to take advantage of what they’ve got. They’ve got a lot. And when you think about Gunner Stockton’s ability to run, that adds to the run game. But yeah, he can’t have catastrophic errors.”

What Gunner Stockton does have, though, is locker room pull. Former Georgia QB Aaron Murray said it plainly, “Guys kind of rallied around Gunner Stockton” in a way they didn’t for Carson Beck, whose off-field distractions stole attention. The expected QB1 earned a blue guardian cap in fall camp, a sign he’s already commanding respect before his first true start. Sixteen days from now, against Marshall in Athens, the real evaluation begins on August 30. And under Kirby Smart, every snap is an audition.