A Closer Look At South Carolina's New Five-Star Commit Gunner Stockton
The South Carolina Gamecocks received some good news Thursday night as 2022 recruit Gunner Stockton announced he plans on suiting up for them.
The five-star quarterback out of Tiger, Ga. is the top quarterback prospect in the nation in the class of 2022 and the highest rated QB in recruit in Gamecock history.
Sports Illustrated's Edwin Weathersby II takes a closer look at what five-star QB commit Gunner Stockton will bring to the Gamecocks in 2022.
Stockton’s tape shows a player who’s a natural football player, perhaps a bit more than someone who’s a pure quarterback. He appears to have a thick and study frame at 6’1” and nearly 200 pounds, with good play strength. He works exclusively from the gun and has active feet that he needs to settle and quiet down a bit at his drop apex, but he sets up with lower-leverage and power to use his trunk to throw. Currently, he processes mostly half-field leveled and 1-read concepts, yet he flashes the ability to click quickly through progressions to locate his best iso-matchup, which is sometimes on the backside. The Georgia native will need to continue to work on his stroke, but he has plus arm strength and flashes good vertical accuracy.
There’s also natural run instincts to Stockton’s game, as he is often utilized on designed-QB runs, an element that will continue at the next level. He displays solid vision to correctly cut off blocks on the second level with decisiveness, along with elusiveness and creativity in tight-space. The same athleticism that allows Stockton to be an effective runner, also affords him to be a threat in second reactions in the pocket. He can elude the rush and escape pressure to break the pocket and present himself as a threat to a defense as a passer or runner down to down.