Gunner Stockton agrees with Stetson Bennett comparison, explains why

USA Today

16-07-2025

Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton caught up with us one-on-one about the Stetson Bennett comparisons surrounding him.
The Manning Passing Academy has long been a rite of passage for the nation's best quarterbacks, and its staff members have fond and unique memories of each of them.
On one occasion, a staffer said he saw someone in the building who appeared to be an autograph-seeking fan.
It turned out to be Stetson Bennett, who would go on to win two national titles for the Georgia Bulldogs.
One quarterback at the 2025 MPA event who drew uncannily similar remarks was Gunner Stockton. Stockton's unassuming appearance and humble personality drew comparisons to the former UGA quarterback
After Carson Beck's season-ending injury in 2024, Stockton stepped in and instantly reminded observers of Bennett with his style of play.
When I caught up with Stockton one-on-one in Louisiana in June, he agreed with the comparison.
"I see a lot of similarities between us. The way he played, the way he styled things, the way he carried himself on the field, I think a lot of that between us in that is the same," Stockton said.
It goes beyond that in Stockton's eyes, though.
"And then, also with the mobility, he's quick and can get in and out of the pocket," he said. "He's got good pocket movement... and he had a lot of swagger (like I see in myself)."
That last part is something shared between Bennett and Stockton is this natural moxie and desire to show moxie, with Stockton saying he modeled himself after Baker Mayfield. That outward, apparent moxie something that JT Daniels and Carson Beck didn't exactly emulate.
Though there are two approaches to leadership when it comes to quarterbacking, whether it be fiery or more quiet, there isn't a specifically "correct" one.
Head coach Kirby Smart seems to prefer the former, saying at one point that he wanted to see more of it from Beck, though he recognized it is not who Beck is.
'That's not comfortable for him. That's just not who he is," Smart said at the time. "But his teammates need to see that fire and grit sometimes too."
I asked Beck during the 2024 season about his leadership approach, to which he said he hasn't changed his identity but had grown in that area.
"I think the big thing is that's just not really me," Beck told me. "That's never going to be me. Otherwise, it's fake. But I think there is a level if you're rating it from one to 10 where you can get a plus two of that emotion. That looks different, that shows different. I think I've done a good job of that."
Spending time behind Bennett and Beck, Stockton said he learned a lot intangibly as the Blackshear, Georgia native rose into the spotlight.
"It's hard to be a quarterback in the SEC," Stockton said. "Just watching the week by week toll and how it affected Stetson and what he did about it was another thing. And Carson (Beck), his mechanics and the way he watched film and tried to replicate the NFL stuff. It was neat to watch him do that."
But what does it truly mean to be the next Stetson Bennett? And does Stockton have the ability to actually fulfill that, or is the early comparison from fans just a hopeful longing for another quarterback like Bennett to be at the helm again?
One of the biggest things to consider when answering that question is what Stetson Bennett's journey was and how he came to be so recognized. Part of that has to do with performance, while perhaps equally if not more so, it has to do with his underdog journey and how that is quantified.
But the two stories are a bit different. Unlike Bennett, Stockton was a much more highly touted recruit, a 4-star who was ranked as the No. 110 player in the nation. Bennett played out one year of his career at Jones College (a JUCO) and held just one FBS offer from Middle Tennessee during his recruiting process.
While Stockton may eventually go down as an "overlooked" prospect depending on how his career plays out, he was in no way under the radar the way the "Mailman" was.
But, just like Bennett, Stockton did not have the best overall first impression. Despite turning some heads when he initially took the reins in the SEC Championship Game after Beck went down with an elbow injury, he had significant issues and the line of scrimmage and his lack of reps shone through clearly in the 23-10 Sugar Bowl loss at Notre Dane.
Bennett also had his positive moments during the first title run Georgia made with him as the quarterback, but he faltered at critical times to the point some consider the Bulldogs to have taken that Natty home in spite of Bennett.
Bennett didn't lack any self-awareness when I spoke to him about that, either.
'It wasn't my best, but it wasn't awful,' Bennett told me of his personal performance when I spoke with him at the Manning Passing Academy. "But in the fourth quarter when we needed it, we turned it on."
But another aspect of why Bennett is looked at the way he is looked at is because of who and what he was up against.
Bennett beat out JT Daniels, who is the most recent quarterback to be named Gatorade National Player of the Year and is considered by many analysts to this day to be the best high school football player in history, despite his discombobulated college career.
It seems to have almost been forgotten the caliber of quarterback in which Daniels was as a Heisman Trophy candidate. There's a strong argument for that if he was able to stay healthy, that he would have ultimately proven to be the superior quarterback to Bennett... who is heralded as the best quarterback one of the best players in school history.
And, even with Stockton taking over for Beck, he never technically "beat out" Beck for the job. He also didn't get the chance to, and likely will never get the chance to, show that is something he is capable of doing after Beck transferred to Miami for the 2025 season.
Plus, even if Stockton had done so, it's hard to say right now whether Beck is the same caliber as Daniels showed he could be at his peak.
There are a million hypotheticals to consider here, but there's only one way Stockton can ultimately be called "the next Stetson Bennett" or anything remotely close to that. And that's to go out there and win a title coming off of two postseason appearances with some significant highs and lows.
Despite not being officially named the starter, it's something Stockton seems confident he can do.
"I want to be known as a captain. I'm excited about our guys and looking forward to the season, enjoying this opportunity and being a quarterback at the University of Georgia."