Coming off a conference championship and College Football Playoff appearance in his first season as Georgia’s starting quarterback, Gunner Stockton is working through a minor setback this spring, according to coach Kirby Smart.

Stockton was seen wearing a sleeve on his knee after what Smart described as a “little offseason injury” during a recent practice.

“He’s great, he’s practicing,” Smart told 247Sports. “He had a little offseason injury in our workouts, but he’s fine now. He was limited a little bit the first couple of days, but he’s out there competing and doing a good job, focusing on things he needs to improve on and competing with those other guys. I’ve been really pleased with Gunner.”

In 14 starts as a junior, Stockton completed 69.7% of his passes for 2,894 yards, 24 touchdowns and five interceptions.

Georgia, ranked No. 3 in CBS Sports’ way-too-early top 25 for 2026, has notable depth at quarterback behind Stockton. Ryan Puglisi made six appearances last season, and three others — Ryan Montgomery, Hezekiah Millender and Bryson Beaver — are competing for reps this spring. Beaver, a transfer from Oregon, is the only quarterback Georgia signed in the 2026 recruiting cycle.

“They’re all doing a great job,” Smart said. “They’ve been able to get some reps. We’re doing a lot of work around practice to guarantee extra 7-on-7 time. I don’t think you get better at the quarterback position without reps, so we’ve been pouring into those guys and telling them to value every opportunity they get.

“So many teams across the country can’t get the reps we can from a volume standpoint because they don’t have the depth and the pieces. All those guys are getting quality reps, quality work, growing in that room. In between practice days, they’re getting 20, 40 reps of walkthrough, position meetings, extra. When you talk about Buddha (Millender), and the two Ryans (Puglisi and Montgomery), and Bryson (Beaver), I’m pleased with where they are. We need them to keep growing, because they’re going to get some live looks and scrimmage work here soon.”

Areas where Stockton can improve in 2026

Mike Bobo’s pro-style offense isn’t heavily reliant on off-script playmaking, but Stockton helped keep Georgia on schedule with his legs at times last season. He rushed for 462 yards and 10 touchdowns, creating additional opportunities in the passing game — particularly in strong performances against Ole Miss and Texas.

At times, that reliance on mobility limited Georgia’s ability to push the ball downfield and exposed Stockton to unnecessary hits. He was outplayed in the Bulldogs’ CFP loss to Ole Miss by Rebels quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, who completed 30 of 46 passes for 362 yards and two touchdowns.

Georgia posted its lowest explosive pass rate since 2020. Much of the passing attack centered on wide receiver Zachariah Branch in the screen, swing and crossing game near the line of scrimmage.

Branch’s team-high 81 receptions were 55 more than Stockton’s next-leading target, Colbie Young, and opposing defenses adjusted to his limited route tree.

It wasn’t all negative. Only Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia, Tennessee’s Joey Aguilar and Chambliss posted higher QBRs than Stockton (150.6). Georgia ranked fifth in the SEC in third-down conversion rate (43.6%), and no team in the conference had a better red-zone touchdown percentage.

Stockton was particularly effective near the goal line, making sound decisions and benefiting from Georgia’s deep tight end group and strong rushing attack.

Stockton can improve by adding touch on intermediate throws and speeding up his reads. Progress in those areas would move Stockton beyond a game-manager label and allow him to become a more dynamic passing threat.

If that happens, Bobo can open up the playbook in long-yardage situations rather than relying on field position and the punt team to flip the field.