Kirby Smart has fielded a lot of questions on Georgia quarterback Carson Beck as of late, many of which have pertained to the signal-caller’s interceptions.
One of the most ludicrous of those was as to whether or not he would consider a change at the position, whether temporarily or permanently and if he thought there could be another option as a running threat.
Smart did not mince words when he responded.
“Absolutely not (have we considered a change),” Smart said. “We’ve got the quarterback we’ve got, who’s completely competent, capable and understanding of our system that gives us the best chance to win.
There is merit to some of the criticism regarding Beck’s questionable decision-making at times, but it should also be noted just how severe Georgia’s issue with receivers dropping passes truly is.
In fact, the No. 11-ranked Bulldogs have one of the worst drop rates in concerning drops rates in college football. It’s the issue that’s holding the offense back most, even though everyone seems to want to point fingers at Beck.
“The receiver problem is real,” college football analyst David Pollack said in a recent appearance on The Todd McShay Show. “They drop balls at the third highest-rate. They don’t make contested catches. Delp (Oscar) is M.I.A. this season. He has less than eight catches on the season. If you want to boil down to what you see and watch on tape, Carson Beck don’t trust Delp. He doesn’t. You can tell there’s definitely not a level of trust. (Brock) Bowers, that ball was getting force-fed. (Ladd) McConkey, that ball was getting force-fed.”
Such an issue causes any quarterback of any caliber to second-guess himself, causes hesitancy in the pocket that can affect timing of getting the ball off and overall decisiveness and generates a pure lack of trust.
Beck finished out his last appearance, the 28-10 loss to Ole Miss, 20-for-31 passing for 186 yards with one interception. On the season to this point, Beck has completed 65.4% of his passes for 2,488 yards with 17 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
That ratio may look a bit alarming, but at the same time, going back and looking through the film will show more receiver error causing this outcome than decision-making issues by Beck, which have existed but been few and far between.
How Beck continues to progress with the 2025 NFL Draft now much closer than it may appear will be something to watch down the final stretch of the season.
That starts with Saturday’s matchup against No. 6-ranked Tennessee in Sanford Stadium.