Carson Beck makes surprising decision, expected to enter transfer portal

ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia quarterback Carson Beck had already announced plans to enter the 2025 NFL Draft. Now, in a turn of events, the fifth-year senior is expected to enter the transfer portal per On3’s Pete Nakos.

The fifth year signal caller out of Jacksonville took over the starting position for Georgia ahead of the 2023 season. Since then, he’s started 27 contests, totaling 7,426 passing yards and 57 total touchdowns. He missed Georgia’s College Football Playoff contest against Notre Dame due to injury, opening the door for Gunner Stockton to make his first career start.

It was been an up-and-down campaign for Beck in 2024. He finished the regular season leading the SEC in both passing touchdowns and interceptions, going through a six-game stretch that saw him toss all 12 including multiple in four contests. Late in the season though, Beck bounced back strong. He didn’t turn it over in Georgia’s last three games of the regular season, throwing for 11 touchdowns and 941 yards in that time.

Beck underwent successful surgery on his throwing elbow to repair damage to his UCL suffered in the SEC Championship Game against Texas. He sustained the injury on the final play of the first half in the with Georgia trailing 6-3, as he attempted a Hail Mary but held on to the ball long enough for the Longhorn pass rush to get home. His arm was hit as he threw, torquing it unnaturally. After staying on the field for a couple of minutes and being attended to by trainers and coaches, Beck left the field on his own power with his right arm dangling at his side. He returned to the sideline in the second half with ice on both his shoulder and his elbow.

“Obviously just being in this position and going through this year and the things that we’ve gone through this season, I think I’ve really grown not only as a quarterback but as a person and mentally in all areas of life,” Beck told reporters ahead of the SEC Championship. “Whenever you’re faced with adversity, you either fall or you rise through that, and you learn a lot about yourself through that. I believe that I have (risen) through these experiences and through facing adversity this year. It makes me excited that I came back and got to experience these things, and that’s really difficult to say because it hasn’t been easy. But we don’t ever want it easy, and that’s kind of the standard here at Georgia is you come here so that it’s hard, it’s difficult, you play in big games, you play on the road against really good teams. You face adversity, you face hardship, and through that ultimately you grow. So no, I think it’s been really good this year, and I think I’ve grown a lot.”

Nakos shares that he expects Beck “to be one of the highest paid transfers in college football history.” It is unclear as to whether entering his name into the transfer portal is in place of entering the NFL Draft or in addition to, testing both waters before making a decision in similar fashion to the way Cam Ward operated at this time last year.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel indicates that Miami “looms as the favorite” the Jacksonville, Fla. native. Nakos adds Ohio State and Texas Tech to that list. Thamel also reports that a the timeline for Beck to make a decision is “within a week,” noting that he won’t be able to throw until March and will likely miss spring practice at his next school but would be “good to go well before summer.”

Beck, who has one year of eligibility remaining, has an NIL valuation on $4.2 million according to On3, sixth among all college athletes and No. 5 for football. He was listed as Mel Kiper Jr.’s fourth-ranked quarterback in the NFL Draft class and a possible first round pick.

Beck would be the second Georgia quarterback to enter the transfer portal off of the 2024 roster, joining Jaden Rashada. In total, 12 players from the team this fall, plus two that were dismissed ahead of the season, have entered their names. Others include the following (next destination if decided already): Collin Gill, Damon Wilson, Anthony Evans, Jake Pope (UNLV), Troy Bowles (Michigan), Sam M’Pemba (Texas A&M), Justyn Rhett (Nebraska), Jamaal Jarrett (USC), Michael Jackson III and Julian Humphrey (Texas A&M).