It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton is being mentioned as a Heisman Trophy candidate for the upcoming season.

Stockton finished seventh in voting for the award last season. He threw for 24 touchdowns while rushing for another 10. He led Georgia to an SEC championship and a spot in the College Football Playoff.

But Georgia didn’t have the ending to its season it had hoped for, as the Bulldogs lost to Ole Miss in the College Football Playoff. Stockton wasn’t at his best that day as he was outplayed by Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss.

If the Bulldogs and Stockton are to have a better 2026 season, Stockton is going to have to play even better than he did last season.

“Stockton isn’t the flashiest quarterback, but he’s productive and rarely makes mistakes,” ESPN’s Mark Schlabach said. “If he can take the next step as a passer by taking advantage of throws down the middle of the field, he could be even better in 2026.”

Much has been made this offseason of Stockton’s pass distribution, as the Georgia quarterback leaned heavily on Zachariah Branch a season ago. The now Atlanta Falcon came down with a school record 81 receptions.

But that production came at the expense of Georgia’s other skill players. Tight ends caught just 43 passes last season. The five freshmen wide receivers Georgia signed in the 2025 recruiting class came down with only nine receptions.

Both of those groups will be key parts of the Georgia passing offense this season. In addition to losing Branch, Colbie Young, Dillon Bell and Noah Thomas are all gone as well.

Recently, Georgia coach Kirby Smart spoke about the importance of the play-action passing game. It was something Georgia didn’t get enough out of last season. And while that might seem like a shot aimed at Stockton, the Georgia coach made it clear it was a collective issue last season.

“We missed some of those opportunities whether it was vision, whether it was a busted route, whether it was busted protection,” Smart said. “And when you play-action, you should have safe, good protection there. We didn’t get our bang for our buck out of those play actions."

Only once since Smart became Georgia’s head coach have the Bulldogs sent a player to New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist. That would be Stetson Bennett, who did so in 2022. After the SEC championship game, Bennett had 20 touchdown passes and seven rushing touchdowns. Bennett did lead Georgia to a 13-0 record at that point, while also winning the SEC championship.

Team success will be a key element of Stockton’s potential Heisman Trophy pitch. He’ll need to rack up wins, in addition to individual stats, if he is to have a better Heisman Trophy finish than he did a season ago.