Carson Beck, Brock Vandagriff creating buzz with backup QB battle

Competition is a cornerstone of Kirby Smart’s Georgia Football program. That’s certainly the case when you stack talent on top of talent with six straight top-3 classes in the country on the recruiting trail. And while the starting spot in the quarterback room doesn’t really seem to be up for grabs, Carson Beck and Brock Vandagriff are in the heat of battle competing for the backup spot. We’ll call it, ‘Beck v. Brock.’

In reality, the real ‘Beck v. Brock’ battle likely won’t play out until the spring. That’s when both are expected to compete for the starting spot opened by Stetson Bennett’s departure. But for now, Georgia fans are interested in the precursor to that quarterback battle with the backup spot up for grabs.

“I think both of those guys have done an incredible job,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said about Beck and Vandagriff on Saturday after the Bulldogs’ second scrimmage of the season. “They’re really good quarterbacks, and they understand our system at a high level. They’ve been through multiple springs, and they’re both playing winning football. I’m pleased with both of their growth. We’re trying to get them more opportunities because we are trying to evaluate them as a one, more than you are as a two or three.”

Why would Georgia be wanting to evaluate them with the first-team more so than they are with the second-team? Well, that’s because unlike most other positions, only one quarterback is going to play in a single game. That means that they’d be working with the first-team offensive line and primary pass catchers as opposed to some of the second and third teamers that likely won’t see the light of day in a game. So, if Stetson Bennett were to go down, it’d be Beck or Vandagriff’s turn to step into his spot and take over the offense with those others around him, not necessarily the ones they’d be slated to work with on a second-team or third-team in the scrimmage. That’s why Smart wants to see them get reps with the ones to evaluate them that way.

“They’re different – they’re two different guys (Carson Beck and Brock Vandagriff). They each possess different parts of what Stetson does well,” Smart continued on the quarterbacks. “The thought process is there. We are going to find out who is the best guy to give you a chance to win, who are you playing, what kind of packages are you running, what are you carrying that week with Stetson, and how does it fit those two guys? They continue to do a great job. Carson has taken more of a body of work with the two’s reps than Brock has, but they’ve both done a tremendous job and will be ready to go.”

Both Beck and Vandagriff have been fairly limited in action in their careers so far at Georgia. Beck has taken snaps in five games (Missouri 2020, UAB, Vanderbilt, Charleston Southern and Georgia Tech 2021). In two of those – Missouri and Georgia Tech – he did nothing but hand the ball off. Against UAB, Vanderbilt and Charleston Southern, he competed a combined 10 of 23 passes for 176 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Meanwhile, Vandagriff played in just two games last season, attempting one pass that fell incomplete.

The in-game action probably isn’t the best assessment of the two quarterbacks. After all, they were down on the depth chart in any appearance they’ve had so far, and Georgia’s been up big, meaning that Kirby Smart, Todd Monken and company wanted to run the ball and keep the clock going to get out of there. Looking at their respective high school careers – and G-Day performances – is probably a better indication of what they are capable of.

Beck was a four-star coming out of Mandarin High School in Jacksonville, Fla. in 2020. Ranked the No. 16 quarterback and No. 224 player overall according to the On3 Consensus, Beck brought to Athens a resume that included a Mr. Football in the state of Florida, leading Mandarin to its first state title in program history. He completed 25-of-36 passes for 329 yards and five touchdowns in that championship game, one shy of the FHSAA record. Overall, he had 3,546 yards and 39 touchdowns that season.

As for Vandagriff, the local Prince Avenue Christian School (Bogart, Ga.) product was a five-star according to the On3 Consensus, ranked the No. 4 quarterback and No. 22 player overall in 2021. Vandagriff also won a state championship in his high school career as he completed 70.9 percent of his passes for more than 4,000 yards and 46 touchdowns that season. He also added 74 carries for more than 500 yards and 17 more scores on the ground. Vandagriff was named 2020 National High School Quarterback of the Year by the National Quarterback Club on top of the Mr. Georgia honor he received in the Peach State.

Beck went 22-of-31 for 236 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in G-Day 2021 followed up by a 14-for-26 day with 274 yards, no touchdowns and on interceptions in 2022. Vandagriff, in fewer opportunities, completed 6-of-9 passes for 47 yards in 2021 as an early enrollee and 12-for-26 for 115 yards in 2022. Vandagriff, who is known for his dual-threat ability, also added a combined 64 yards rushing, sacks excluded, in the two years compared to Beck’s 19.

“I’ve said all camp all three quarterbacks have done an excellent job. I’m so pleased with the progression of those guys, all the way down to Gunner (Stockton), who hasn’t had as many reps in our system or in general as Brock (Vandagriff) and Carson (Beck) have,” Smart said on Saturday, summarizing his thoughts on the backup quarterback battle. “We try to have a lot of two-spot where I feel like Gunner’s getting reps and getting work. There’s times, where like in scrimmages, you don’t have two scrimmages going on, so there’s quarterbacks on the sideline. In our practices, I’d say 80 percent of the time, there’s two quarterbacks on the field because we’re doing multiple things. So that helps the development of those guys, certainly Carson and Brock are ahead of where Gunner is, and both of those guys are different but they both play winning football. They do an incredible job of understanding. They both took some reps with the ones today in preparation, and they continue to get better.”