Kirby Smart says Carson Beck is one of the best he's ever been around at reading coverages

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart has been around a lot of great quarterbacks during his coaching career, both with the Bulldogs and prior to his tenure in Athens, Ga. Current starting quarterback Carson Beck has a ways to go before reaching the legacy of some of the other talents.

But there is one area where Beck has reached the upper echelon of quarterbacks Smart has coached and that’s in seeing and reading coverages.

“There’s shots on a lot of plays that the looks not there. If it’s middle-field closed, you don’t just take a shot to take a shot,” Smart said during his Monday press conference. “The quarterback has a read. They’re in quarters and the safeties deep, you don’t just take a shot. What he’s really good at is — one of the best I’ve been around — seeing the coverage, knowing what it is and then knowing where to go with the ball. We did have a little more pressure the other day than we’re used to and he did a nice job adjusting to that.”

Through the first three games of the season, Beck has 71 completions on 96 pass attempts, totaling 846 yards and just three touchdowns.

He didn’t have much to do the first two weeks as the Bulldogs beat down on UT Martin and Ball State. But Beck stepped up in the second half this past Saturday versus South Carolina. With Georgia down 14-3 at halftime, Beck led the offense down the field on four straight possessions. The Bulldogs emerged with three touchdowns and one field goal attempt, which was missed.

However, there is still a learning curve to go with the first-year starter. After the game Saturday, Smart addressed some areas where Beck needs to improve as the year progresses.

“Stepping up in the pocket, there was a couple times that he started losing a little confidence and he started stepping back. He’s gotta be willing to step up,” Smart said after Saturday’s game. “Like they talk about race car drivers, when the smoke’s there, you gotta go right through it. There’s a lot of smoke in there sometimes, especially when people pressure you.

“You gotta be willing to step up and go through it and not always out and around it, because you can’t always outrun it that way. I’m really pleased with the way he’s playing, but there’s certainly things he can continue to work on.”