Georgia player lands on ESPN’s way-too-early Heisman watchlist for 2026
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With Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza taking home the 2025 Heisman Trophy, college football fans have already begun to speculate about who could be the 2026 recipient of the sports’s most prestigious individual award.
On Sunday morning, ESPN released its way-too-early look at next year’s Heisman race, and a notable SEC signal-caller cracked the list of 15.
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach included Georgia‘s Gunner Stockton on his watchlist, citing the gutsy quarterback’s dual-threat abilities as a major reason why the team was able to overcome plenty of shuffling along the offensive line. Here’s Schlabach’s analysis:
In his first full season as Georgia’s starting quarterback, Stockton helped guide the Bulldogs to a 12-1 record and SEC title. His legs and right arm were a big reason the Bulldogs averaged 31.9 points, despite enduring myriad injuries on the offensive line. Stockton was at his best when the game was on the line — he completed 86% of his passes with 11 touchdowns and one interception in the fourth quarter against ranked opponents.
Stockton completed 70.7% of his passes for 2,691 yards, ran for another 442 and accounted for 31 total touchdowns in leading Georgia to the SEC Championship this fall. He figures to only add to those impressive numbers as the Bulldogs make their upcoming College Football Playoff run.
Stockton and the Bulldogs will face either Tulane or Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1.
Parker is currently the sports editor for the Enterprise-Journal in McComb, Mississippi. He's a graduate from Mizzou who has experience covering the Tiger football and basketball beats for SB Nation, and he's worked for a variety of sports news outlets in the past.
