Kirby Smart downplays negative impact of Carson Beck's return on quarterback recruiting

Carson Beck is running it back at Georgia for the 2024 season in the hopes of leading his Bulldogs back to the College Football Playoff. Falling just short in his first year as the starting quarterback, he believes he has unfinished business in Athens.

While some believe this move could be holding the Bulldogs back in the recruiting game, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart explained why this isn’t the case — especially after early national signing day.

“I don’t think Carson’s decision had any impact on our quarterback recruiting situation,” Smart said. “I think it was a lot of independent variables there. We’ve felt pretty good that Carson was coming back the entire time. He’s communicated with us. He did his research.

“He certainly had options, but he communicated that he wanted to grow and continue to get better. So he made that choice. …. That’s something we have to think long and hard about. Our hard number [for scholarship QBs] is four. We want to be at four, and we’re not at four. So again, we’ll look at our options and see what we can do there. We would like to be at four, but that’s our goal.”

Getting to four quarterbacks was easier said than done once former five-star recruit Brock Vandagriff transferred to Kentucky. They haven’t added to the position as of this report but, of course, the Bulldogs added a quarterback to its 2024 roster in four-star recruit Ryan Puglisi. He signed his national letter of intent of Wednesday as a part of early national signing day.

“Ryan came down here, I bet 5 or 6 times. He checked the box every time for the right kind of kid, the right kind of competitor,” Smart said of his new QB. “He’s embraced the part about learning. He sees himself as a guy that needs to come in and develop under a system. He’s seen Carson’s success, so I think he understands that. He wants to grow and get better.”

Beck’s announcement to return coincided with him announcing that he would be starting for Georgia under center for the Orange Bowl against Florida State.

The Bulldogs head into the matchup on Dec. 30 as 14.5-point betting favorites over the Seminoles, as FSU is without star quarterback Jordan Travis — a main reason why the undefeated Seminoles are not playing in the College Football Playoff semifinal on New Year’s Day. The over/under total is set at 44.5 points, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.