Kirby Smart explains why Georgia football didn’t sign a 2023 quarterback: ‘The portal is full of them’

ATHENS — For as well put together as Georgia’s 2023 recruiting class is, there is one piece noticeably missing.

The Bulldogs did not sign a quarterback in this cycle. Alabama, Ohio State, Notre Dame, all the other recruiting powers did, but Georgia did not feel the need to pursue another quarterback after 5-star prospect Arch Manning committed to Texas back in June. Manning officially signed with Texas today.

Beck has gotten the lion’s share of back-up reps this season, impressing in his performance against Vanderbilt. Next year will also be his fourth year in Todd Monken’s offensive system. But don’t count out Vandagriff and Stockton as potential options as well.

Related: Early Signing Period: Georgia football 2023 recruiting class commitments, signees, targets, live updates

Given the improvements made by Bennett in each season, it’s easy to see why Smart feels comfortable about the future of the Georgia quarterback room.

“When you have three quarterbacks, sometimes you don’t have any,” Smart said. “And when you have one quarterback, that’s when you have a quarterback. We’re very pleased with what we have in our quarterback room. We think we’ve got three quarterbacks that are going to be really good, so the concern wasn’t about a quarterback.”

The lack of a quarterback didn’t dissuade some of the nation’s top skill players from coming to Georgia. The Bulldogs signed 4-star running back Roderick Robinson, four 4-star wide receivers — led by the No. 84 overall player in the country in Tyler Williams — and two top-10 ranked tight ends in Pearce Spurlin and Lawson Luckie.

“I’m excited about both of those guys,” Smart said on the two tight end signees. “They’re coming into a room that is extremely competitive, but they both fit that criteria themselves. So I’m excited to see what they can do for us.”

Georgia also already has a quarterback prospect committed for the 2024 recruiting cycle in 4-star quarterback Ryan Puglisi. There’s also the possibility of landing 5-star quarterback Dylan Raiola, the No. 1 player in the 2024 recruiting cycle.

The Georgia offense this season set new personal bests in points per game and yards per game since Smart became the head coach. While there might not be a quarterback of the future in Georgia’s 2023 recruiting class, Smart still has a very bright outlook on the future of the position.

“It’s one of those deals that the quarterback position kind of sells it based on who your offensive coordinator is and how your offense does, and we’ve excelled in that,” Smart said.

Kirby Smart explains why Georgia football didn’t sign a 2023 quarterback

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