ATHENS — Georgia didn’t need to name a new starting quarterback this month.

Gunner Stockton is clearly the man to lead the 2026 Georgia football team.

“He’s had a good camp,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “He’s in a much better place this year than he was last year, in my opinion, just from experience.”

Smart was presented the opportunity to name which quarterback would back up Stockton this coming season on Tuesday.

Given the way things have gone for the other quarterbacks this month, it wasn’t a surprise that Smart declined to clarify who would be the first quarterback off the bench.

“That battle’s not over,” Smart said. “It’s one of those things that we’ll continue to see, and, inevitably, you’d like to see it play out in live action. But is that live action through us, or is that live action through a game? I don’t know if we’ll get a chance to do that.”

Ryan Puglisi was Stockton’s primary backup a season ago. He completed 16 of 27 passes for 161 yards while appearing in seven contests.

Puglisi threw a touchdown to Elyiss Williams in Georgia’s season-opening win over Marshall. With games against Tennessee State and Western Kentucky to open the season, the Bulldogs will likely have the opportunity to get whoever the backup quarterback is some valuable playing time.

Despite the experience edge, Puglisi hasn’t locked up the same job he held last season. Ball security was an issue for Puglisi last year, throwing 2 interceptions compared to just the lone touchdown. Coming out of Georgia’s second scrimmage, it appears Puglisi is having the same issues.

Ryan Montgomery has taken advantage of Puglisi’s mistakes, tightening the race between the two. He had some nice moments during the team’s second scrimmage this past weekend.

Montgomery is in his second season at Georgia. While he doesn’t have the athletic gifts of Puglisi, he’s a sharp processor. He’s often been compared to former Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm in terms of play style.

Fromm entered the 2017 season as Georgia’s backup quarterback. When Jacob Eason went down in the first half of the season-opener against App State, Fromm stepped in. He’d start every Georgia game after until the end of his time in Athens.

Georgia will still present opportunities for Puglisi, Montgomery, Hezekiah Millender and Bryson Beaver to show what they can possibly do before the season begins on Sept. 5.

“We have chances every day for them to go in critical, crucial, two-minute drives, third-down competitions,” Smart said. “They (Puglisi and Montgomery) both have had their good, and they both have had their bad. They continue to get better. So has Buddha. And Bryson’s a guy that we fight every day to try to get more reps for him so he can continue to grow.”

With the uncertainty behind him, Stockton’s importance to the Georgia offense has only grown during the preseason phase of the 2026 season. If Stockton were to miss any time, there would be major questions about not just the quarterback position, but the entire offensive operation.

Smart lived that experience in 2021, when starter JT Daniels missed Georgia’s home opener against UAB. Offensive coordinator Todd Monken had named Carson Beck the backup quarterback at the start of fall camp that season.

But Beck underwhelmed in practice, opening the door for Stetson Bennett to surpass him on the depth chart. Both played against UAB, with the latter throwing for 5 touchdowns in the start while the former threw a pick-6 at the end of the game.

Bennett went on to help Georgia win a national championship that season. Stockton himself stepped in for Beck after he suffered what was a season-ending elbow injury in the 2024 SEC championship game.

Georgia knows well the importance of having a capable backup quarterback. Which makes the current undecided battle for the position all the more concerning as the 2026 season draws near.