ATHENS — Georgia’s offense is clearly going to be a major talking point of spring practice.

Whether it be the influx of talent at wide receiver or the desperate need to improve upon the offensive line, progression from the offense will be a key storyline to follow.

As for the player directing most of that traffic though, this does not feel like a pressure-packed spring for quarterback Gunner Stockton.

When Georgia starts spring practice on Tuesday, Stockton will work as the first-team quarterback.

Despite it being the fourth set of spring practices that Stockton has participated in, it will be the first where he is the top quarterback on the roster.

Stockton has not yet been named the starting quarterback. Don’t expect him to be so either, given the desire to see Georgia have an actual quarterback competition. Kirby Smart is likely to keep the battle going throughout the summer and into fall camp.

Right now Ryan Puglisi looks to be the only serious competitor on Georgia’s roster but there is a spring transfer portal window that opens in April. Last year, Georgia pulled Arizona State transfer Jaden Rashada — who has since re-entered the transfer portal and not yet found a new home — into Georgia’s quarterback room.

Stockton, bluntly, has a significant edge over Puglisi in terms of being the starting quarterback. Puglisi has yet to throw a collegiate pass.

Stockton started the last game of Georgia’s 2024 season, a loss to Notre Dame. He also led Georgia to a win over Texas in the SEC Championship game. In those two games, Stockton completed 32 of his 48 pass attempts for 305 yards. He had a touchdown pass, but a costly interception and fumble as well.

Following the loss to Notre Dame, Stockton knew there were a number of areas he could improve. This spring does give him the chance to grow in some, but not all, areas.

"I’ll have to always get better," Stockton said. “Just watch the tape and the little stuff. Just watch it back. I know I can play better.”

What Stockton, and really all Georgia quarterbacks, needs is live-action game reps. Scrimmages well help, as will G-Day. But Stockton has played in three of those to this point and there’s no real way to simulate an opposing rusher trying to break you in half while in the comfort of a black Georgia practice jersey.

The experience at the end of the 2024 season was invaluable for Stockton. It gave him something he didn’t have and could not have gotten prior to the 2025 season.

Had Carson Beck not snapped the ligaments in his elbow, Georgia’s quarterback position would be a greater unknown and obviously a bigger story this spring.

Instead, it feels as if Stockton is well on his way to becoming Georgia’s starting quarterback for the upcoming season. He handled an adverse situation well, given his first six-plus quarters of first-team football came against teams that made it to the semifinals of the College Football Playoff in 2024.

His next potential start against Marshall to open the 2025 season won’t be nearly so fraught.

The game against Notre Dame also highlighted just how much better around the quarterback position Georgia had to get. Even with Stockton, wide receivers still dropped passes, the team struggled to run the ball and the offensive line got beaten in pass protection.

“We didn’t help him out a lot,” tight end Oscar Delp said after the loss to Notre Dame. “He made his plays, and he’s really special. Everyone saw a glimpse of what he can do. We didn’t help him out too much.”

Georgia so clearly had to improve at wide receiver and on the offensive line. The Bulldogs have seven newcomers at the former, while Smart hopes that improved health will help the offensive line.

Those two position groups figure to be under a microscope this spring. Will drops be an issue again? How close will the Bulldogs be to finding their best five-man combination on the offensive line?

Those questions, like who starts at quarterback, won’t be fully answered this spring.

The uncertainty riddled throughout the offense makes it even harder to truly evaluate Stockton and the improvements he could potentially make coming into this season.

We won’t know this spring if Stockton has elevated the offense. His leadership, while raved about by Smart and teammates to this point in his career, won’t truly be tested until the adverse situations of the fall.

Stockton is still a question mark for Georgia. But this spring, he isn’t the biggest one on the offensive side of the ball.

And so we’ll have to wait and see if a new quarterback provides a more acceptable answer to whether or not Georgia has a championship-caliber offense. Because it did not possess one when Stockton made his first start at the end of the 2024 season.