NCAAF
ATHENS, Ga. — The Georgia football program’s preparation for the post-Carson Beck era continued Wednesday, as it got a commitment from quarterback Ryan Montgomery for the 2025 freshman class.
Montgomery, from Findlay, Ohio, is the 12th-ranked quarterback recruit in the class, per the 247Sports Composite. His commitment comes after a period of frustration for Georgia at the position: Two weeks ago, Georgia lost out to Missouri for Matt Zollers, the eighth-ranked quarterback in the class. And the Bulldogs haven’t yet been able to flip Juju Lewis, a Georgia native and five-star recruit committed to Southern California.
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In last year’s recruiting class, Georgia saw five-star Dylan Raiola flip to Nebraska the week before signing day. In the winter transfer window, Georgia briefly had a commitment from Jordan Maiava, who was leaving UNLV but then flipped to USC.
Georgia did get a big win last month in the 2026 class: Jared Curtis, one of the top recruits in that class, committed to the Bulldogs. The more immediate concern, however, is the group for next season, when presumably Beck will be off to the NFL Draft.
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Gunner Stockton, the current backup, will be a junior. Ryan Puglisi, a four-star recruit this past year, will be entering his second year. Montgomery will be a freshman. But Kirby Smart has been blunt that having four scholarship quarterbacks is ideal, so if a veteran quarterback hits the transfer portal the Bulldogs will look into it.
As for Montgomery, he may not be as highly recruited as the players Georgia often gets. But while the Bulldogs keep trying (and sometimes get) five-stars like Raiola and Lewis, they’ve had success the old-fashioned way: developing and a bit of luck. Stetson Bennett was a walk-on who transferred out but returned and won two national championships. Beck was a four-star recruit — the ninth-ranked quarterback in his class and the No. 254 player overall — who sat for three years, then got the job and was one of the nation’s top passers in 2023.
Montgomery is listed at 6 feet 3, a couple of inches shorter than Beck and an inch taller than Stockton. He’s a pocket-oriented quarterback with some running ability and started as a freshman at Findlay High School. This past season, he threw six touchdowns in a game, breaking the program’s single-game record previously held by Ben Roethlisberger.
(Photo: John Adams / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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Seth Emerson is a senior writer for The Athletic covering Georgia and the SEC. Seth joined The Athletic in 2018 from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and also covered the Bulldogs and the SEC for The Albany Herald from 2002-05. Seth also covered South Carolina for The State from 2005-10. Follow Seth on Twitter @SethWEmerson
