They have not even played a game together yet, but Zachariah Branch seems to believe that Gunner Stockton is the real deal for the Georgia Bulldogs. Stockton has played sparingly during his time at Georgia. He famously came in after halftime of the SEC Championship Game to help the Dawgs stave off Texas. Stockton then made his first start in the Sugar Bowl, but Notre Dame was on another level.
With Branch coming over from USC, he wanted to join a program that emphasized excellence all around, on and off the field. He believes his teammates can help him grow into being a better player and vice versa. So when he was asked about his early impressions of Stockton at the podium during spring practice, he put it bluntly: Stockton is a Dawg! His competitiveness is rather awe-inspiring.
The first part of this quote from Branch is significant because it helps establish a certain standard.
"I knew he was a dawg since we started off in the workouts. I can tell easily from the work ethic and how you prepare yourself to go out there and be the best version of yourself. I can definitely tell that he was really trying to compete every rep. When we're doing conditioning, he's really trying to win, trying to push himself to be the best version of himself. That's what I like to surround myself around."
Branch finished his thoughts on Stockton by saying they are working on their chemistry and whatnot.
"Me and Gunner, we clicked off pretty early. Got a chance to get on the same page and ran some routes on our own time just to get that chemistry down. He's been a real help for me in this offense, as well, too."
Here is the entire interview Branch had with the local media during Georgia spring football practice.
I am now going to unpack why I feel that Stockton's leadership could be better than Carson Beck's.
Zachariah Branch gives a great example of Gunner Stockton's leadership
This is not about disparaging Beck or elevating Stockton to levels that are not fair or justifiable. It is about painting a picture of how this year could be better than the last, or maybe just different... Regardless, Stockton may not be the passer of Beck, but he is certainly more of a runner. In a way, I think that actually helps the Georgia offense a bit. The threat of Stockton running opens things up.
In my 16-plus years following and covering Georgia, I have only seen three wide receivers play Between the Hedges who were truly special: My classmate A.J. Green, to some degree, George Pickens, and without debate, everyone's favorite Ladd McConkey. What I have seen Branch do before at USC intrigues me in a way that only those other three could. No, Brock Bowers played at tight end...
So what I am getting at is Branch and Stockton's skill sets weirdly complement each other. They are both dynamic with the ball in their hands and can do all sorts of things on the field. If they end up having great chemistry, then that is wonderful. What I really only care about is if they push each other to be better. It seems to me that Stockton's work ethic resonates with Branch and it should others.
To tie a bow on this, Stockton has a chance to be incredibly successful this fall because the talent around him will be better than what Beck had during his final year with the team. The other thing to keep in mind, he is a Mike Bobo guy through and through. He was originally going to play for him at South Carolina out of Rabun before flipping to Georgia to play for his home state's team. It is time!
Beck may have had more talent, but Stockton may be more of a man of the people than expected.