Carson Beck talks confidence, 2024 team at Manning Passing Academy

Georgia quarterback Carson Beck spent his weekend at the Manning Passing Academy in Thibodaux, Louisiana as a counselor for young campers learning the fundamentals of football. Of course he was there to help others improve their game, but also, Beck continues to dial in on his own ahead of an important season, both for himself and the Bulldogs.

“I think everything’s different as far as the approach,” Beck told On3 at the event. “Last season I was battling for a job. This season I’m coming in as the starter. Obviously I was team oriented and team focused, but there was a lot of individual want as well. This year though, it’s very team oriented, very much, ‘How can I help the wide receivers? How can I help the running backs? How can I help the tight ends? How can I make the offense better?’ I think that’s the biggest difference as far as my mindset on the team.”

Beck earned Georgia’s starting spot last season and never looked back. Throwing for nearly 4,000 yards on a school record 72.4% completion rate, Beck was named to the All-SEC Second Team by the league’s 14 coaches, behind only Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels of LSU.

This year, Beck’s hoping he can be the one to take home the Heisman and go early in the NFL Draft. Both are on the table for the Jacksonville, Fla. native as the nation’s top returning passer, and Beck knows that. He can feel the increase in confidence from year one to year two.

“I think with every game that went by my confidence went up and up and up. You can compare the first game to the last one and it’s not even the same quarterback on the field,” Beck said. “I go watch the first three games, try to go watch film on it and I laugh at myself. I’m like, ‘What am I doing?’ I think the confidence level is completely different, and I’ve changed and developed as a quarterback as well through that season.”

Beck won’t be asked to do it alone this season in Athens. He’s got plenty of talented players around him. To supplement the return of guys like Dominic Lovett, Dillon Bell, Rara Thomas, Arian Smith and Oscar Delp, Georgia went out and added several new, talented weapons by way of the transfer portal including Colbie Young (Miami), Trevor Etienne (Florida) and Ben Yurosek (Stanford). Others from last year’s roster like Roderick Robinson and Anthony Evans are expected to take on bigger roles as well.

“Obviously Dominic Lovett is going to have a huge impact. Honestly, our whole wide receiver room, those guys are so good, and I think that we have great depth,” Beck said, previewing the Bulldogs. “We have so many guys that do so many different things very well. The running back room, you’ve got Etienne that just transferred in, Branson Robinson who’s coming off of an injury, the things he was able to do his freshman year – he’s crazy athletic and a crazy running back. I honestly don’t know, I’m just excited for the year. I mean, our whole offense, our offensive line coming back, Jared Wilson at center who’s a very talented player, I think I’m just excited to see what our offense can do this year.”

Beck is obviously a believer in the Bulldogs on the field, but he also sees the way they interact with each other off of it. It only adds to his excitement to get things going in August.

“I think we’re very talented, but I think the biggest thing is we’re very connected. We’re all on the same page. Our mentality, our mindset, we’re very much all goal oriented and pushing towards the same goal,” Beck said. “When we’re connected, we can push each other. It’s a very player-led team which I’m excited about.”

“Coach Smart says this too but we don’t get hunted. We do the hunting, no matter what,” he added. “If we’re at 1 or 10 or whatever the ranking is, we’re always doing the hunting … Competition, obviously you add in two really good teams, the SEC is already one of the hardest conferences with the competition and talent everywhere. I think it’ll add for some more exciting matchups.”

With the turn of the calendar to July, Beck and the Bulldogs will get back to work soon in Athens. It’s this time of year the quarterback believes some of the biggest strides can be taken during player-led workouts ahead of fall camp before too long. Players are expected to report back to campus for the start of camp in just over four weeks with a sprint to the season starting in August. Georgia kicks things off on August 31st in Atlanta, taking on ACC favorite Clemson.