What Georgia is getting in Carson Beck, with film analysis from … Carson Beck

This serves as another reminder of how quickly things can turn in recruiting: Carson Beck was thought to be a lean to Florida, where he was once committed as a baseball player, before his stock as a quarterback rose. Beck, who decommitted from Alabama last month, was set to visit Gainesville the second week of March.

But late last week, Georgia jumped in the picture, offering Beck a scholarship and inviting him for a weekend visit. Beck came, and he left so impressed that on Sunday evening he announced his commitment, a stunning turn to those who had followed Beck’s recruitment, a stinging loss for Florida and another win for Georgia in Jacksonville — where Beck lives.

What is Georgia getting — and Florida not getting — in Beck? A prototypical pro-style quarterback, with good size (6 feet 4, 226 pounds) and rankings (third-rated pro-style quarterback and No. 62 overall nationally in the 247Sports Composite). He’s also very cerebral, having been diagramming intricate plays since middle school, with his father, Chris, calling him “a walking offensive coordinator.”

This was Beck’s third trip to Georgia, the school Chris Beck said his son always wanted an offer from. Georgia secured Beck’s commitment in part because of the offensive system, offensive line and expectation of competing for national championships.

“My wife was like, ‘Holy mackerel, that’s the one he wanted,’ ” Chris Beck said. “Then I saw it in his eyes. I thought, ‘This is real, this is his home.’ It’s just a great fit for him.”

The visit itself this weekend “changed everything,” according to Chris.

Carson Beck spent most of the day in the Bulldogs’ offensive room, which featured a white board from the ceiling to the floor, talking coverages, plays, schemes and checks. Georgia cut up film of Beck’s games and his Under Armour camp performance and compared it to the Bulldogs’ system and what they do against certain coverages. At one point, Kirby Smart joined the conversation, added insight about what defenses would be doing, then handed Beck a marker and asked for Beck’s thoughts.

“They truly looked at Carson as the future of Georgia football,” Chris Beck said.

Let’s go even deeper in on Carson Beck. We will break down what Beck’s commitment means going forward for Georgia, and why it’s so important. But first, let’s offer a glimpse of Beck’s cerebral side: Beck recently broke down to The Athletic four of his plays at Mandarin High School. We offer up that analysis, along with comments on each play from a quarterbacks coach at the college level who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Play 1

Beck’s analysis: This play, we ran once all season and we hadn’t practiced it in a good month. The other team would do this blitz, and we knew it was coming. I think I tell the running back to look in that right direction. The guy standing up near the defensive line, he is their defensive end, and, in film, we saw they would stunt with him and then bring from the weak side.

So I was hoping our running back was going to get over to that blitz. So that was the first thing I was worried about. Then, it’s double post. So the one guy on the edge rushing comes free, our running back sees him and I don’t know why he doesn’t just go hit me. I just trusted that he wasn’t going to hit me.

I saw the top guy crash on the first, inside post, which allowed for the receiver to be free and allowed for room, sucking up the linebacker. The safety I didn’t think was going to get there.

That was third down, too. I knew it was man coverage, and I knew the receiver who caught the pass was going to get open and the other was going to take the defender down. I just hoped the safety wouldn’t get over in time. And he didn’t. He tried, but he didn’t get there.

College quarterbacks coach: That’s some slant in a tight window. They’re playing man with one-high over the top, and he just beats that safety. He just beats him. This kid is amazing, huh?

Play 2

Beck’s analysis: I think this was third-and-10. Watch our inside receiver. They track him for five steps. See the corner? He gets baited into the out route from the inside receiver. Right when I saw him bait down on the out route, I just flipped my hips and just bombed it.

The throw is very tough. I don’t know, I just saw the corner get baited. My confidence was high, though. He was wide-open, so I just said to myself I was going to get him the ball, so that’s why it was kind of underthrown. The safety didn’t get over the top; he was under it. So I couldn’t afford to overthrow it.

College quarterbacks coach: That’s impressive. You’re talking about a kid rolling out and throwing across his body. That’s a bomb. That’s a 50-yard throw. He is rolling away from his strong arm. It is definitely underthrown a little bit, but he’s on the run. This is really impressive.

Play 3

Beck’s analysis: What we’re supposed to do is … you see how he bubbles out? So he’s supposed to just block. I was just not about that. I was like, “Do a go.” So it’s a run play; you can see the guards go block. It’s supposed to be a run play. We did this a few times, actually, during the playoffs. Obviously, our receiver is insanely fast. If that defensive back doesn’t jam him or gets a hand up in him, and the receiver gets a clean release, then I’m pulling it and I’m throwing it. If you watch, the defensive back doesn’t even use his hands at all. Our receiver just blows right past him. So as I’m faking it, I’m watching the corner, and I’m like, OK. From there, it’s just timing. So that’s kind of an RPO, but not really. It’s not a true RPO.

College quarterbacks coach: This has touch, it’s right on the money, he doesn’t take unnecessary steps in dropping back. This is a fluid play. It’s a play-action and there is no wasted movement with his throwing mechanics. The kid has pretty good coverage on him, and he puts this ball right on the money, right in stride. I think this is one of his best throws, period. He completes this ball in college.

Play 4

Beck’s analysis: They are running quarters, it looks like. So if that corner were to jump down on that, then there’s a corner route coming right behind the comeback. But the corner gave him enough … he jumped on it pretty well, actually. But it got there. That’s off-rhythm, too.

I didn’t know I was going to throw that there before the snap. I made the decision to throw it there, depending on the amount of leverage, the leverage of the corner and the amount of space. When I see the corner retreating like that … you see his hips? Once his hips turned, I thought he wasn’t going to get to it. But I had to throw a dime right there.

College quarterbacks coach: These comebacks he throws are ridiculous. He is throwing it from the hash to the opposite numbers, and I don’t know why … but it’s unreal. This is right on the money. His window is really tight and it’s to the field. You have to figure, this is a 15-yard throw, but the width of the field is 53 ½ yards. So width-wise, it’s 35 yards of width he’s throwing the ball. It’s a perfect throw. I would put this on his highlight film every time, definitely. I don’t know too many kids who can make this throw. Does he know what coverage this is pre-snap? He probably does. The kid lets the kid go right inside and I’m not sure he’s supposed to do that, but this may be a Cover 4. This could be a 10 as far as throws go.

What it means for Georgia

Georgia only offered Beck last Wednesday, but once it did, it pressed the point hard: Todd Hartley, the tight ends coach who has the Jacksonville area, has been all over Beck.

As of Sunday, Georgia had offered 18 quarterbacks in the 2020 class, including 11 pro-style, according to the 247 database. Beck was the third-highest rated of those quarterbacks, the other two (D.J. Uiagalelei and Bryce Young) being from California and considered long shots for the Bulldogs. Young was already committed to USC.

So Beck is a huge pick-up. That won’t stop Georgia from staying in contact with other quarterbacks in the 2020 class. Hopefully by now it’s obvious why.

In the perfect world, Georgia would sign only one quarterback in each class and neatly sort it out over their time on campus. Georgia was following that plan from 2015-17 with the Jacob Eason-Jake Fromm-Justin Fields roll.

But this is not a perfect world, as Georgia knows. Eason and Fields are now at Washington and Ohio State, respectively. Fromm will be draft-eligible after this season, and what he’s thinking — and what the pros are thinking — is anyone’s guess. There’s a chance the Bulldogs need a new starter in 2020, and it’s a certainty they will in 2021.

Dwan Mathis, the quarterback from Michigan who enrolled at Georgia this semester, could be the guy. He offers intriguing size (6-4, 197), but while he’s also a four-star prospect, he doesn’t come to Georgia with the same credentials as Beck. (Mathis is rated the No. 11 pro-style quarterback in the 2019 class, and the nation’s No. 311 overall prospect.)

Stetson Bennett, who will be a sophomore this season, became a folk hero in Athens for his scout-team play, especially with how he mimicked Baker Mayfield in practice.

“Stetson Bennett is a beast,” former defensive coordinator Mel Tucker said quite memorably in the lead-up to the Rose Bowl.

But Bennett, who spent last year in junior college before transferring back to Georgia on scholarship, is still short (5-10) and came to campus as a walk-on. That doesn’t mean he won’t turn into the next Mayfield or Kyler Murray, but that’s also unlikely.

Beck now joins the fold. Assuming he joins the fold. Hence the next reason Georgia should keep its door open for another quarterback in this class.

It was only last summer that John Rhys Plumlee committed to Georgia. He’s going to Ole Miss instead. Georgia would be wise to make clear to Beck how important he is to the Bulldogs, while also making sure it plays this smart.

Georgia does have a bit of a crunch in the 2020 class and isn’t expected to sign many more than 20 players. That doesn’t mean it won’t sign two quarterbacks. It will just have to feel very good about both of them.

The Bulldogs definitely feel good about the one they got on Sunday.

(Photo: Phelan M. Ebenhack via AP)