‘Tough sucker’ Gunner Stockton has a problem that won’t get fixed soon
ATHENS — Jake Fromm understands the Georgia quarterback group and how Kirby Smart manages the offense as well as anyone.
Fromm, who went 36-7 in his three seasons as the Bulldogs starter and delivered Smart’s first SEC title, said Gunner Stockton took a big step but has an offensive line problem.
“There is a revolving door (with) injuries. ... I just don’t think that offensive line has played all that great in pass protection,” Fromm said, “and that is messing with Gunner’s internal clock and max protection opportunities.”
Starting right tackle Earnest Greene lll has lingering injuries that have led Georgia to platoon at the position.
Greene, a FWAA Freshman All-American in 2023 who had made 25 career starts, played 32 snaps Saturday against Tennessee, while redshirt freshman Michael Uini played 48 snaps and redshirt sophomore Bo Hughley played 15 snaps.
Right guard also has been unsettled, with a pair of freshmen rotating against Tennessee. Mammoth opening-game starter Juan Gaston (6-foot-7, 360 pounds) is coming off an ankle injury and was limited to 26 snaps while Dontrell Glover played 69 snaps in the game.
Stockton still managed to make clutch throws and key scrambles in leading Georgia to a 44-41 overtime win at Tennessee, and Fromm — who beat rivals Tennessee, Florida and Georgia Tech all three times he played each of them — knows the value that holds within the locker room.
“Gunner is a tough sucker, a very tough dude, you can just tell by the way he plays the game, how he gets up — he’s not afraid to put his body out there on the line,” Fromm said on the DawgNation Daily podcast. “Nothing pumps up a team more and earns more respect from your teammates than being a tough quarterback and taking hits and getting up.
“It just sends an electric juice throughout the entire sideline. The guys rally around it, and they freaking love it. So Gunner being able to do that, I mean, just the respect from his teammates is just increasing more and more by the day.”
Indeed, it was one thing for Stockton to come off the bench and finish off Texas in the SEC championship game last season, but that largely was the run game, defense and Kirby Smart’s daring fourth-quarter fake-punt call.
The Tennessee game Saturday required Stockton to make plays with his feet, his arm and with great poise.
But as Fromm notes, Stockton needs his offensive line to protect him with more regularity, as he sustained three sacks while having to escape on other occasions.
“Those max-protection play-calls, I mean, he’s getting hit a second and a half after the snap,” Fromm said. “... That should not be the case. So I really kind of feel for Gunner on this and trying to figure out that internal talk of what’s going on and what he has time to do.
“That’s why ... you kind of see maybe with happy feet back there, and trying to get east and west (running), so he can see things going on and he feels more comfortable out there.”
Fromm said Stockton and the Georgia coaching staff will have to take the offensive line into account in their game plans moving forward.
“This is going to be something that isn’t going to get fixed overnight, (and) it’s not going to get fixed over the bye week,” Fromm said. “This is going to be something that’s going to get marginally better week in and week out. It’s going to be something to monitor throughout the season.
“I think for Georgia and Gunner to be his best, he’s going to have to at some point get very, very comfortable in that pocket and start delivering the ball from there.”
About the Author
Mike is in his eighth season covering SEC and Georgia athletics for AJC-DawgNation and has 30 years of collegiate sports multimedia experience, 25 of them in the SEC including beat writer stops at Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee and now Georgia. Mike was named the National FWAA Beat Writer of the Year in January, 2018.
