Brock Vandagriff expected to stay at Georgia, not enter transfer portal

After some speculation, Brock Vandagriff is not expected to leave Georgia. He’s staying in Athens, On3 and DawgsHQ’s Jake Rowe reported Wednesday night.

Vandagriff is competing with Carson Beck to be the Bulldogs’ starting quarterback and had a solid showing in the G-Day spring game on Saturday. He completed 13 of 25 passes for 175 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in the game, but Beck went 15 for 22 for 231 yards and one touchdown.

Vandagriff addressed the possibility of entering the transfer portal after the game, and said he hadn’t given it much thought at that point.

“To be completely honest, I hadn’t thought about it much,” Vandagriff said. “Just 15 practices, I had to get better every practice and that’s just where I’m at with that.”

As Stetson Bennett burst onto the scene for Georgia over the last two years, Vandagriff only appeared in four games in that time. He came in with plenty of hype, though, as a five-star recruit and the No. 22-ranked prospect in the nation from the 2021 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Rowe detailed what Vandagriff’s decision means for the Bulldogs amid the quarterback competition. Although it might lean in Beck’s favor after G-Day, getting Vandagriff back is still a key piece of the QB room — and will be able to push Beck throughout the year.

“While he’s not the favorite to win the starting job, this is about the best news Georgia could have gotten since the spring game ended on Saturday,” Rowe said. “It wasn’t on display in the spring game but Vandagriff got a lot better this spring. It wasn’t hard to find someone close to the program who felt he was really making a move during the middle portion of the five-week camp. He was also the best of UGA’s three quarterbacks in the first scrimmage. Georgia now has three scholarship quarterbacks heading into the 2023 season and a guy keeping heat on Carson Beck.”

Former Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray also weighed in on the idea of Vandagriff leaving the program during an appearance on The Hard Count with On3’s J.D. PicKell earlier this week. He noted the interesting balance between playing for a hometown school — Vandagriff is from Athens — and trying to further a career.

“Brock loves being at Georgia,” Murray explained. “He loves being at UGA. I mean, he’s a kid from Athens, went to Prince Academy, so I think it’s always been a dream for him to be on this roster, but you want to play too.

“Like, there’s that good feeling of I’m wearing the red and black. I’ve dreamed since I was a little kid to wear this uniform. But there’s also that competitor inside that you want to play football. You only get a small window and a small opportunity to do it.”