What to really look for with Ryan Puglisi and the Georgia QB competition on G-Day

Puglisi is pushing Gunner Stockton to be the team’s starting quarterback. It’s a position battle Puglisi feels he can win, even if the odds are stacked against him. Saturday will be the fourth time Stockton plays in a spring game. He’s also played in a real game, something Puglisi has not done.

“Any time you get to wear pads and play in Sanford Stadium in front of your fans and stuff like that is a blessing,” Puglisi said. “So, I think just being able to go out there and soak up the moment, play with my guys around me, and obviously that’s a quarterback’s job, it’s just your job to serve others. So, whatever I have to do out there is just to serve others and get the ball to the playmakers.”

Puglisi never was going to overcome Stockton’s edge in experience. Time has not been on the former’s side.

But there are other aspects that Puglisi has been able to focus on this spring. Teammates have taken notice of the gains made by the redshirt freshman.

“He’s learned the playbook. He could teach the playbook at this point,” wide receiver London Humphreys said. “He feels good about it, and he’s someone I can talk to if I have any questions about, hey, what’s the deal here, what are you looking at, so we can be on the same page, just receiver to quarterback. I mean, he’s still a young guy, he’s got a lot of time ahead of him. So, I mean, he’s progressing great in my eyes, and I’ve enjoyed playing with him.”

Humphreys isn’t the only wide receiver to note a connection with Puglisi, as Sacovie White spoke glowingly of Puglisi’s development.

White understood the drawback of Puglisi not being able to play in last season’s spring game. But he saw Puglisi dive into the playbook and learn the mechanics behind offensive coordinator Mike Bobo’s playbook.

Like Humphreys, White feels comfortable going to Puglisi if the wide receiver has a question.

Puglisi knows the offense and can explain it to others. That ability to communicate is critical for a young quarterback.

“He’s growing to be a leader on his team,” White said. “And as a quarterback, he got to be a leader. His demeanor and emotion never change, he’s always happy. He’s never down, because as a quarterback, you got to help us, because we look at that. If the quarterback’s down, then we’re gonna be down. But if the quarterback has a smile on his face, tell us, let’s go and strap your chinstrap up, we’re gonna be great. And he does a great job at that.”

The mental aspect is only part of the process for Puglisi. It is one thing to understand the offense. It’s another to go out and execute it.

Puglisi is a capable athlete, but a Stetson Bennett-type he is not. He’s also not likely to be as willing to take off as Stockton, but given some of the hits Stockton took in his brief time as QB1 last season, that isn’t the worst thing.

If Puglisi is to win as Georgia’s starting quarterback, he’ll have to do so in a manner similar to Carson Beck — by using his mind and winning with accuracy, though Puglisi does have more natural arm talent than Beck.

“I learned a lot of things from him on the field and off the field, just like Gunner,” Puglisi said of Beck. “But I would say he’s got elite accuracy, he’s elite in the pocket, and he’s very good at making decisions in crunch time. So I think taking a lot of, I mean, there’s a ton of things I could take away from him and Gunner’s game. But I think just taking away the crunch time, I think that he’s shown where he’s delivered in tough situations.”

Georgia’s defensive backs have gotten a long look at Puglisi this spring, and they have noticed his boldness growing with each practice.

They’ll go head-to-head Saturday in the most pressure-packed setting yet.

“The way he could read coverages, blitzes, so that’s been like, he knows when a matchup is very good for him, so he likes to take his chances,” Demello Jones said of Puglisi.

Puglisi knows that a strong performance Saturday won’t win him the starting quarterback job. He has aspects of his game he wants to continue to work on well past the conclusion of spring practice.

Perhaps the most important thing to watch with Puglisi is how many reps he takes with the first team. It’ll be a recognition of how much Puglisi has accomplished. And how close he might be to actually pushing Stockton in this competition, given Stockton should very much be seen as the favorite for the job.

“It just comes down to watching film every day and slowing the game down,” Puglisi said. “I think how slow you can make the game and how fast you can make decisions is what makes you a really good quarterback. So, as much film as I can watch, obviously continue working on my intangibles, accuracy, footwork, everything like that, whatever’s going to take me to the next level.”