Gunner Stockton is entering his fourth season at Georgia. While eligibility deems him as a fourth-year junior, his time at Georgia effectively makes him a senior.

He’s one of 17 on Georgia’s 2025 roster. He’s put in his time in the program, which is a big reason Stockton is seen as the team’s likely starting entering the 2025 season.

There will be a lot on the shoulders of Stockton, or redshirt freshman Ryan Puglisi. But whereas Georgia put too much on the plate of Carson Beck a season ago, Kirby Smart and the Georgia staff went to real lengths to surround the quarterback position with talent.

And while yes there are new faces like wide receiver Zachariah Branch and freshmen Bo Walker and Talyn Taylor, the players that should help the quarterback position most are the seniors.

Georgia has 10 players on its offense who have played three seasons of college football to this point.

Three of them come on the offensive line in right tackle Earnest Greene, center Drew Bobo and left guard Micah Morris. Those three figure to be Georgia’s top offensive linemen in 2025.

Greene will be flipping from the left tackle position to right tackle in order to make way for Monroe Freeling. Greene has the most starts of any returning offensive lineman — 23 in total — but he was not himself last season. An upper-body injury limited him during the month of November, with the game against Ole Miss being the low point.

Bobo has limited starting experience, like Stockton. The center took over for Jared Wilson during wins over Auburn and Mississippi State. Bobo and Stockton have been roommates and should show a unique connection that extends beyond the typical center-quarterback relationship.

“I’ve known Gunner for a while, so when he came in we already had a little bit of a relationship. We’ve became good friends as time went on,” Bobo said of Stockton this spring. “He’s my roommate now, and it’s really cool to have him behind me as we have a really good connection. I think we communicate pretty well together, and it’s good to be on the same page as him a lot of the time.”

Morris is the oldest player on the team and the only member who played on both national championship teams. While he was not a contributor on either the 2021 or 2022 championships, that experience is immeasurable for a young team and unproven quarterback.

The offensive line will be counting on its veterans to do a better job of protecting and opening holes in the running game than it did last season. The performance of the offensive line is a big reason things were so hard on Beck.

Of course, Georgia also led the country in drops last season. The Bulldogs used the transfer portal to bring in not just Branch, but senior wide receiver Noah Thomas and running back Joshua McCray.

Thomas led Texas A & M in receiving yards, touchdowns and receptions last season. At 6-foot-5, he gives Stockton a physical outside target that Beck missed most of last season.

Given how much Stockton prefers to attack the field vertically, the presence of Thomas should be very welcome.

“Gunner’s a great dude. He’s probably one of the best human beings I’ve ever met,” Thomas said of Stockton. “He’s so down to earth, and man, he’s a gamer, man. When he gets out there, he’s locked in. He’s in that mode, and he just wants to push the ball down the field and go put it in his own every chance he gets. So yeah, that dude’s a baller.”

Just as Thomas figures to be a physical outside receiver, McCray gives Georgia a big-bodied running option. He ran for 10 touchdowns at Illinois last season. While he didn’t go through spring practice, Nate Frazier did not last season and he led Georgia in rushing last season.

That McCray was a spring portal addition indicates Georgia saw him as a pretty big need. Trevor Etienne missed time last season and is off to the NFL. Branson Robinson transferred to Georgia State. Roderick Robinson is back but he has consistently battled injury in his time at Georgia.

Thomas and McCray are new seniors, two of six on the 2025 roster. But they are not the only skill-position players on the roster who have played three seasons of college football.

At tight end, Oscar Delp is back. Like Bobo, Delp is roommates with Stockton.

The senior tight end did not have the year he wanted in 2024. He never seemed to click with Carson Beck, especially with how much Beck seemed to lean on former Georgia tight end Brock Bowers.

It’s safe to say that Stockton implicitly trusts Delp. He had a critical third down catch and conversion in the overtime win over Texas.

He’ll look to produce at a greater clip than he did last season. But Delp is clearly one of the more important leaders on Georgia’s team in 2025.

As for Dillon Bell, he too didn’t have the year he envisioned last season. But he came back to Georgia for another year. He’ll get the chance to play with his younger brother Micah, who transferred in from Vanderbilt.

Bell was forced to play a role a season ago — the X receiver position — that did not best make use of his skill set. As we saw on G-Day, he is at his best when Georgia is able to use him all over the field.

“I feel like me being versatile, helping the team as much as I can, I feel like that was something that I wanted to do for the team. I’m a team player,” Bell said this spring. “I’ll do whatever it takes to win championships and things like that.”

Bell shouldn’t have to play the outside wide receiver position this fall. Not just because of Thomas but also Colbie Young. Thanks to an additional year of eligibility, Young is back in Athens this year.

He looked like a difference-maker in the early part of last season before his suspension. Pairing him with Thomas should ensure Georgia’s quarterback always has a physical wide receiver to throw to and that Georgia will be able to optimize the receivers throughout the rest of the offense.

For as much as the above pieces should help Stockton, he’ll be the one tasked with making the plays. He’ll be the one to make changes at the line of scrimmage and make sure the ball gets distributed throughout the offense.

Stockton is the most important fourth-year player on the Georgia offense. He’ll need to play well if Georgia is to accomplish its goals.

But he won’t have to do it all on his own. And he shouldn’t feel that he has to, given the veterans he has around him on the offense.