Kirby Smart is betting Georgia's playoff redemption on Gunner Stockton

Georgia has been to the expanded College Football Playoff twice under Kirby Smart and gotten knocked out both times in the first game. That's the backdrop for everything Smart said this offseason, and it's why a story about explosiveness and quarterback leadership matters more than it would for a program with less recent playoff scar tissue. The Bulldogs aren't hunting for relevance. They're hunting for a second-round win they haven't been able to find.

Pete Thamel

@PeteThamel

"We've got to find a way to, whether we win the SEC or not, to get into that playoff and play better and play bigger in bigger moments." Story on Georgia, which is well positioned again for a CFP bid. Can they find the offensive explosion? t.co/fXwbX9N25F

Smart's quote to Thamel isn't coach-speak filler. Georgia has been a No. 2 seed with a bye in this playoff format and still lost in its playoff opener each time, most recently in a shootout loss to Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl. Smart has been openly critical of the layoff between the regular season and the CFP messing with his team's rhythm, but he's also stopped short of using it as an excuse. The message now is about finding an offensive gear Georgia hasn't consistently shown, especially in the exact spots where the pressure spikes.

That's where Gunner Stockton comes in. Stockton took over the starting job last year and led Georgia deep into the season, but a rough finish to 2025 left him off some of the preseason marquee quarterback lists heading into his final year in Athens. He's not getting the hype some of the SEC's other returning passers are getting, which is exactly the kind of thing that tends to motivate a Kirby Smart program.

Brett McMurphy

@Brett_McMurphy

Georgia's Kirby Smart on QB Gunner Stockton: "We can't get the guy to talk half the time. But he leads from the front. He takes hits, he embodies everything our program is about: toughness, culture & the love for his university."

What Smart's comments to McMurphy reveal is that this isn't really about arm talent or scheme creativity, it's about culture fit. Smart has built his entire Georgia era on toughness and buy-in over flash, and the fact that he's framing his quarterback as someone who "embodies everything our program is about" is Smart drawing a line from Stockton's demeanor straight to the identity of the whole roster. Georgia doesn't need Stockton to be a Heisman contender. It needs him to be the guy who doesn't blink when the games get bigger, which is precisely the trait Smart says has been missing in those playoff exits.

None of this means Georgia is a lock for anything. The SEC is loaded, and Smart himself framed the goal as finding a way into the playoff whether or not Georgia wins the conference outright, which tells you he expects another crowded race at the top. But the pieces are recognizable: a defense Smart trusts, a quiet leader at quarterback he's publicly co-signed, and a coach who's tired of one-and-done playoff trips. Whether Stockton can turn that trust into the explosive, bigger-moment football Smart is asking for will decide if this season ends differently than the last two.