ESPN analyst Aaron Murray gives Carson Beck an 'A' grade so far in 2023

About midway through the 2023 season there’s enough on tape for fans to pick apart just about anything, and for Georgia, the play of quarterback Carson Beck has been under scrutiny.

Beck has already thrown for almost 1,500 yards, but he hasn’t done it in a very flashy manner, with just seven touchdown passes in five games. Still, there’s at least one college football analyst who believe Beck is doing just fine, even if some fans want a little more.

“I think Carson’s done what he has needed to do this entire season,” ESPN’s Aaron Murray said. “I remember I sat down with him probably about a month, month and a half ago, and just talking about this exactly: what it means to be the quarterback at Georgia, the pressures both on and off the field.

“He kind of laughed, he’s like, ‘Man, I walk around campus,’ and he’s a big guy. Like I’m 6-foot, 6-1, Carson’s 6-4, all of 230. He said, ‘People are like taking pictures of me, wanting my autograph.’ He said, ‘It’s bizarre because I don’t view myself as like this big-time superstar. So I think mentality wise he’s in a really good spot.”

Beck has been good enough to keep Georgia undefeated, but there have been some close calls, like last week’s game against Auburn.

In that contest, Beck finished with 313 yards passing and a touchdown, but he also threw an interception and the passing game didn’t really get humming into the second half.

Still, Murray, a former Georgia quarterback himself, sees plenty of reason to be excited about what Beck has done.

“Then you talk about the play on the field, I think it’s been excellent,” Murray said. “I know there’s been some Dawg fans that have been a little bit frustrated with a lack of production down the field, but that will come. I would rather a quarterback be mature enough to get through his reads, find his No. 3, find his No. 4, make a defense come up, and then eventually those plays are going to start hitting down the field like I said. So I give him an ‘A’ for the way that he’s kind of started the season off.”

On the season Carson Beck has gone 116-of-161 passing for 1,497 yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. He’s also run for two scores.