After a 2025 season in which Gunner Stockton guided the Bulldogs to an SEC Championship, Georgia legend David Pollack has issued a sobering warning. The message is clear: evolve. However, it won’t be easy amid roster turnover.
Why David Pollack Is Sounding the Alarm on Georgia QB Gunner Stockton
Pollack appeared on his podcast “See Ball Get Ball” and discussed Kirby Smart’s quarterback. He pointed out that he didn’t see Stockton making major plays or playing at his best in high-stakes games and that the quarterback lacked consistency.
Pollack said, “He (Gunner Stockton) has to get better. So to me, the Gunner season a year ago started off very rocky, got really, really on solid footing, and the way it finished, it ended rocky. It did. It did not end with him playing his best ball against Georgia Tech or with Alabama.”
But the core of Pollack’s concern lies in the staggering amount of production Georgia is losing to the NFL and graduation. For the first time in his tenure as a starter, Stockton will be without his primary security blankets.
The departure of record-setting wideout Zachariah Branch, who led the team with 81 catches last year, to the NFL Draft leaves a massive void in the explosive-play category.
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Pollack continued, “He has to get better throwing the football, and I think the degree of difficulty is going to be different because they are breaking in a lot of new receivers, basically all of them.”
In addition, the Bulldogs are replacing six of their top seven pass catchers from a year ago. Losing established chemistry with his receivers creates a new difficulty that could paralyze a hesitant passer.
Reliability is out the door. In its place is a room full of potential featuring players like redshirt freshman Talyn Taylor and high-profile sophomore CJ Wiley.
However, with a younger corps, Stockton must master the change-up, the touch passes, and back-shoulder fades that require extreme trust. He is a player who desperately wants to be perfect and avoid mistakes, which ironically leads to a conservative, robotic style of play that elite defenses like Ole Miss or Texas can easily exploit.
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So, for Georgia to win a natty in 2026, Smart and Mike Bobo must unlock a version of Stockton that plays carefree. The statistics from 2025, nearly 2,900 passing yards and 34 total touchdowns, were impressive, but they weren’t enough to overcome elite competition in the postseason.
Realistic expectations for Stockton this year involve him becoming a more instinctive playmaker. He has the mobility (462 rushing yards and 10 TDs last year) to punish defenses, but he must pair that with a more aggressive, vertical passing attack.
