Carson Beck return gives Georgia high ceiling for 2024

Carson Beck is back, and it’s news that has made waves around the college football world. After one year of serving as the Georgia starter at quarterback, the fourth-year with two years of eligibility remaining decided that it was in his best interest to return to Athens for another go around with the Bulldogs instead of testing the waters of the NFL Draft already.

“You’re talking about year two, the confidence that comes with playing football and being the guy,” former Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray explained during a recent appearance with On3’s J.D. PicKell. “I’ll be honest, it wasn’t a quarterback competition last year. That was the big thing discussed across college football, across the Georgia fanbase of, ‘Who’s gonna take over for Stetson (Bennett)? It’s a three-way battle between (Beck) and Brock (Vandagriff) and Gunner (Stockton).’ It was never really a battle. It was Carson’s job, but I think now knowing truly that it’s his job, the fanbase is behind him and excited but also confidence-wise, he now knows, ‘I’m a first round quarterback. I know that I can play at the next level. I know that I’m a potential top-10 pick, if not first pick in the NFL Draft.’ That gives you confidence heading into the offseason to be an even better leader in the locker room.”

Beck finished top-15 nationally in yards per game (287.5), top-10 in yards per attempt (9.4) and completion percentage (72.4) and top-5 in the NCAA for passing yards (3,738). Albeit aided by an extra game over the competition in many cases, it should be remembered that Beck didn’t take a single snap in the fourth quarter of four games for Georgia with the Bulldogs up big and not needing his help to secure a win.

Returning for another season, those kind of stats have him in the early talks about the Heisman Trophy. And while the weapons that were around Beck in 2023 may not all be there next season, Georgia should be able to reload well enough, taking two transfer portal receivers already (London Humphreys and Colbie Young) with hopes of having guys like Dominic Lovett, Rara Thomas and Dillon Bell return as well. All of this also coms with a second year in the system of offensive coordinator Mike Bobo.

“People can say, ‘He’s not going to have Brock (Bowers) next year.’ Well, he didn’t have Brock for about four or five games this season and he played pretty dang good during those four or five games. Yeah, it will hurt not having Brock and we’ll see about Ladd McConkey if he comes back or not, but they just got the kid from Vanderbilt, Ladd McConkey 2.0, we’ll see how he plugs into things,” Murray said. “This goes beyond Mike Bobo’s system, this goes to any quarterback: the more time, the more reps you get in an offense the faster things flow. This isn’t just a one-year offense for him too. This is the same offense that Todd Monken was running. There was a reason why Kirby went and got Bobo and had him be the analyst and why Bobo took over so quickly after Monken decided to go to the Baltimore Ravens. He wanted to keep everything the same – terminology, concepts, plays – that way that the team could just plug and go.”

“You saw that comfort with Carson. So this is not just year two with the system, this is going to be year four or five playing within the system. Yeah, a new play caller, maybe a little bit of a new twist, but it’s the same system for him,” he continued. “There’s a lot of comfort when it comes to going out there and executing at a high level for Carson. And I think for Bobo too, heading into next year, you’re going to see his comfort with Carson, ‘I’ve now had a year of working with him. What does he do well? How can I maybe tweak the offense to best suit No. 15?'”

As for how Beck stacks up against the competition when it comes to the 2025 NFL Draft, he’s expected to be at or near the top. Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers reportedly plans to return and the same could be true for Michigan’s JJ McCarthy. Both are in the College Football Playoffs, as is Alabama’s Jalen Milroe who will be back. Then there’s Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders that’s talented too. Murray thinks Beck will be right in the thick of things when it comes to conversation for the top spot.

“There will be four or five first round guys next year, but when you talk about all the attributes: 6-foot-4, 225, big arm, athletic enough, good decision maker, takes care of the football and now will have two years of starting experience, I think yeah, he’ll be a top 10 guy.”

Beck and the Bulldogs will suit up one last time this season on Saturday when Georgia takes on No. 5 Florida State in the Capital One Orange Bowl. Kickoff time is set for 4:00 p.m. ET on ESPN with UGA entering as 14.5-point favorites according to Vegas Insider.