JD PicKell: Breaking down the Georgia QB battle between Carson Beck, Brock Vandagriff

On3’s JD Pickell has been breaking down some of the offseasons biggest stories in college football during spring practices. And one of his most intriguing stories is going down in Athens, GA, where the Georgia Bulldogs have a battle brewing for their starting quarterback job. On a recent episode of The Hard Count, PicKell gave his thoughts on the ongoing battle.

“Anybody and everybody is watching this quarterback battle. Gunner Stockton‘s going to factor in, but I really wanna see Carson Beck versus Brock Vandagriff,” said PicKell. “The thing that I’m watching: what is the efficacy of what they do best? And what I mean by that is when we watch Carson Beck — what he does well — he wheels and deals like nobody else. He just can spray the football around the yard. We saw it firsthand at the national title gaming during garbage time; dude can absolutely sling the rock.

“What’s the conversation around his skill set versus Brock Vandagriff’s, who’s a really good athlete, can run the football really well, and does a lot with his legs? Is it Beck’s arm; it just changes the way that we call this offense. Like, we can just do some things with Carson Beck at quarterback we can’t do with Brock Vandagriff. I mean, he can stretch the field, he could throw the deep ball like nobody’s business. Carson Beck and his arm talent is a difference maker for us at Georgia.”

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Georgia appears to have given Beck the upper hand, dating back to last season. The redshirt junior was national championship game MVP Stetson Bennett’s primary backup last season, and did well while on the field. Beck completed 74.3 percent of his passes (26-35) for 310 yards, four touchdowns, and zero interceptions.

PicKell thinks Vandagriff is closing the gap

Still, Vandagriff has been making plays in the spring when given the opportunity. The Georgia native hailing from Bogart, GA, has impressed with his dual-threat ability. And the attention he’s demanding might mean substantial playing time in 2023.

“… Or is it more of a hey, both got some throw the ball pretty well. There’s no question they are both capable passers. If you had to give an edge, you probably give it to Carson Beck throwing the football. But I’ll tell you what, man, we do that zone-read stuff; even though Brock Vandagriff is non-contact when we run those quarterback-design runs, he gets out in space. That’s just something that’s too good to leave off the field. When 12 tucks it and runs, we are a different offense. Do we see a version of that in the spring game?

“It sounds like Brock Vandagriff, according to people at Georgia, is starting to turn the corner. David Pollack came on this very show and told us it is Carson Beck’s job to lose. So he started, more or less, as the front-runner… Carson Beck is the front-runner; Brock Vandagriff is right behind him, starting to gain some ground. I think his legs could be the difference-maker.”

There is still a lot of time between now and the start of the 2023 season, which means Vandagriff has an opportunity to apply more pressure on Beck for the starting position. However, if Beck can withstand that pressure, he’s likely to win the starting job. Just don’t be surprised if Vandagriff gets a few packages in the playbook next season, given the talent he possesses.