Senior quarterback Carson Beck has all but been named the starter for the 2023 University of Georgia football team. During his time with the Bulldogs which began in 2020, Beck has been buried on a depth chart that saw him backing up two-time national champion quarterback, Stetson Bennett. Bennett, who was the unquestionable leader heading into last season has since moved onto the NFL which has opened the door for a new starting quarterback at Georgia.
According to ESPN’s 2020 high school football rankings, Beck was a four star quarterback recruit at the time and the 234th best prospect in the country. Behind him in the 2021 class was four star quarterback Brock Vandagriff who is entering his junior season with the team, and in the 2022 class four star quarterback Gunner Stockton who enters his sophomore season with the Dawgs.
The conversation has been around how well Beck will do in his first year as starting quarterback assuming he takes the reigns. There has been talk of Beck being in the Heisman contention, and also conversation that Beck should not even be the starter, and that Stockton or Vandagriff should get the job.
One thing is for certain – whoever gets the first chance will have been well-vetted beforehand by head coach Kirby Smart and his staff as the right guy for it. Based on track record, nothing should lead one to believe that Beck should not get his chance, and also that he won’t make the most of it.
Expect Beck to have a standout season for the Bulldogs for a few reasons:
Why Georgia football quarterback Carson Beck will be a Heisman finalist in 2023
1. He’s surrounded by offensive weapons such as two-time national champion and John Mackey award-winning tight end, Brock Bowers. Bowers has twenty-four total touchdowns in his first two seasons with Georgia football, which will provide a great reliable option for Beck which can be invaluable as a quarterback. The Dawgs also boast a stable of running backs in Kendall Milton, Daijun Edwards, Branson Robinson and Roderick Robinson II that’ll provide great balance and alleviate some pressure for Beck needing to be relied upon too heavily.
2. Georgia’s offensive line also has two premier anchors in Sedrick Van Pran and Tate Ratledge. Ratledge and Van Pran bring forty-five games of starting experience between the two of them. This experience should provide Beck with plenty of time in the pocket to make the right decisions throwing the ball and should also open up holes in the run game as well which will help the Dawgs to create that balance, which should further help Beck’s confidence keeping the defenses on their toes.
3. Most importantly, Beck now has four years under his belt at the University of Georgia under the Kirby Smart-led Bulldogs, and that is worth something.
Too often at the college level, fans will deem a player to not be the one if they do not start earlier on in their career – namely as a freshman or sophomore. And sometimes you even hear it if they are a junior getting their first chance. The argument from fans is often times that if they were the right one for the job, they would be starting before that point. At Georgia however, it is different. The two-time defending national champions have built a recruiting pipeline that’s led them to top five recruiting classes in each season since Smart’s arrival in 2017 according to 247Sports. With that being said, its needless to say that playing early at Georgia is not easy like many other schools.
Smart seems to be modeling what his mentor and Alabama head coach, Nick Saban, has implemented for many years with the Crimson Tide that’s led to much success – and this is players typically not playing until their junior or senior year – namely at the quarterback position.
Saban developed a recruiting pipeline as well since his time at Alabama starting in 2007, so it has been difficult to get on the field early there as well. Recently, take quarterback, Mac Jones for example. Jones was a four-star quarterback in the 2017 recruiting class for the Tide. Jones spent three years as a backup much-like Beck before getting his shot for the Tide in 2020. In that season, Jones threw for 4,500 yards and forty-one touchdowns, finishing third in the Heisman voting for that year. A.J. McCarron, Greg McElroy and Blake Sims are some other examples of starting quarterbacks for the Tide that didn’t get their shot until at least their sophomore seasons with the Tide. Each of them made the most of it. In fact, three of these four ended up winning at least one national championship as the starting quarterback.
In comparing Alabama and Georgia in this regard, there seem to be many similarities that folks lose sight of. And that is that staying put and learning the systems pays dividends in the long-term for both player and team. Especially with the way the ease of transferring in this day and age, it is uncommon for highly rated players to stay for long. Smart has created a culture that preaches patience and dividends for the Dawgs. And Beck should be the first example of this reaping its benefits at the quarterback position. Do not be surprised either if Beck looks poised all season long as the starting quarterback for the Dawgs and winds up as a Heisman Trophy finalist at the end of the season.