Gunner Stockton's 24 Touchdowns Weren't Enough, and College Football Fans Should Be Frustrated

Alright Seattle sports fam, grab your coffee. We’re barely into June, but the college football world is already dropping bombs that’ll make you scratch your head. You'd think a guy who slings it for nearly 2,900 yards and 24 touchdowns, leading his squad to back-to-back College Football Playoff appearances, would be a no-brainer for the elite tier, right? WRONG. CBS Sports just dropped their QB rankings, and somehow, Georgia's Gunner Stockton is NOT on the "Obvious Heisman Candidates" list. What in the Emerald City is going on?!

Stockton's 2025 Season Was an Absolute Show, So What Gives?

This ain't right, folks. We're talking about Gunner Stockton, the 6-foot-1, 215-pound signal-caller who put on a show in 2025. He threw for an impressive 2,894 yards, tossed 24 touchdowns, and kept the ball safe with only five interceptions. Five! Not only that, he was the guy guiding the Bulldogs to their second consecutive College Football Playoff appearance. Remember how he stepped up in the second half of the 2024 SEC Championship game and then again in the 2025 Sugar Bowl? His performances were so impactful, people were legit wondering if Georgia's offense could even move forward in 2025 without him elevating their passing attack. The dude's got grit, too, displaying dual-threat capabilities and taking some vicious hits from defenders in the process. He even earned All-SEC Third Team honors at the end of the regular season! That's a huge eye-opener for anyone watching. So, for David Cobb of CBS Sports to put him merely in the "All-conference caliber vets" tier? It's just baffling, man.

The "Elite" List Is Missing a Huge Name

Okay, so if Stockton, with all those numbers and accolades, isn't an "Obvious Heisman Candidate," then who is? Prepare yourself for this list, because it’s a head-scratcher. In the SEC, Cobb decided Trinidad Chambliss of Ole Miss and Arch Manning of Texas belonged in that top tier ahead of Stockton. Sure, Chambliss and Stockton had that wild duel in the 2026 Sugar Bowl, where Ole Miss ended up beating Georgia 39-34. And yeah, Manning had a strong finish to 2025 that "should serve as a springboard" into 2026. But come on, a strong finish doesn't erase Stockton's full season of stellar play! And get this: four Big Ten quarterbacks also made the "Obvious Heisman Candidate" tier. We're talking Dante Moore from Oregon, Julian Sayin from Ohio State, Josh Hoover from Indiana, and Jayden Maiava from USC. The 2026 college football season has a ridiculously deep group of starting quarterbacks, no doubt. The transfer portal and NIL payouts are keeping proven starters in college longer, which is awesome for the game, but that still doesn't explain this omission. It feels like a massive oversight, honestly. Look, we're still in the early stages of previewing the 2026 season, but this kind of slight? This is the fuel that legends are made of. Stockton has already proven he can lead a team deep into the College Football Playoff, deliver big throws, and run with determination, even taking those punishing hits. He’s got that competitive fire we Seattle fans know all too well. Will this exclusion from the elite tier spark an even more dominant performance from him this upcoming season? You better believe it will. Get ready, because if these rankings tell us anything, it's that Gunner Stockton just got a huge chip put on his shoulder, and we are absolutely here to watch him prove every single one of these so-called experts wrong. Bring on 2026!

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.