Paul Finebaum Says Gunner Stockton Isn’t Good Enough to Win a National Championship

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Jaron Spor | Last updated Aug 2, 2025 10:00 PM ET

The upcoming 2025 college football season will bring significant changes for several top programs. Notably, many College Football Playoff teams from last year, including the Ohio State Buckeyes, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Tennessee Volunteers, Texas Longhorns, Georgia Bulldogs and Oregon Ducks, will be starting new quarterbacks this season.

For the Bulldogs, Gunner Stockton will start as quarterback, replacing Carson Beck, who transferred to the Miami Hurricanes this season. Beck had impressive statistics during his two years as the starting quarterback.

He threw for 7,426 yards, 52 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. However, he was never able to lead Georgia back to a national championship. This season, that challenge falls to Stockton. On "The Paul Finebaum Show," the SEC Network analyst expressed skepticism about Stockton’s chances.

"My answer is no," Finebaum said. "I don't have a lot of faith in Gunner Stockton. The better question is, do I have more faith in Gunner Stockton today than I did in Stetson Bennett four or five years ago? I probably do. So, it's proven that Georgia, if it has an elite defense and enough complements on offense, can get there."

Stockton begins the 2025 season with limited playing experience, having appeared in only five games last season. In those games, he threw for a total of 440 yards and one touchdown, with most of his contributions coming during the SEC Championship Game and the College Football Playoff loss, which happened after starter Carson Beck suffered a season-ending injury.

Stockton played a vital role in leading the Bulldogs to an overtime victory against the Texas Longhorns, securing the SEC title after stepping in for Beck, who was injured in the first half.

The Bulldogs earned a 22-19 victory, highlighted by Stockton’s 8-yard run on second-and-8 at the 12-yard line during overtime. On the next play, Trevor Etienne rushed in for the game-winning touchdown from four yards out.

Georgia faced a challenging playoff quarterfinal against Notre Dame, losing 23-10 while struggling offensively throughout the game. Stockton completed 20-of-32 passes for 234 yards and one touchdown.

Finebaum wants to see more from Stockton to determine if Georgia can become an elite team in 2025 or if the Bulldogs are simply a good team that cannot win a national championship.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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