After suffering an elbow injury in Georgia’s SEC Championship win over Texas that required season-ending surgery, quarterback Carson Beck declared for the 2025 NFL Draft. Now there comes another twist, as Beck is entering the transfer portal, per Matt Zenitz at 247Sports.

Beck completed 290-of-448 passes this season for 3,485 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. Beck began the season with seven touchdowns and zero interceptions in his first two games, then, after throwing neither against Kentucky, Beck threw 12 interceptions over the next six games. Beck bounced back over the next three games, tossing 11 touchdown passes with zero interceptions. He was stymied in the first half against Texas in Atlanta, completing 7-of-13 passes for only 56 yards, with two runs for -15 yards, losing a fumble. He would be injured on the final play before halftime. Beck issued a statement when he declared for the draft.

“First off I want to thank God, for blessing me with the opportunity to play the game I love. Through the ups and downs, the highs and lows, everything that this game produces and provides i’m eternally grateful for. Football has taught me lessons that will last a lifetime and has grown me into the person I am today. I’m so grateful for my family and those close to me for the support they’ve provided me during this journey,” Beck wrote. “They’ve always had my back no matter what the circumstance, and I can’t thank them enough for that. To Coach Smart, Coach Bobo and the rest of the Coaches who were apart of my tenure at UGA, thank you for your wisdom, your unwavering support, and most importantly the time that you’ve sacrificed pouring into not only me, but the many others who came before and after. Thank you for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to lead this team. It’s been a blessing and i’m forever grateful. To my teammates, i’ve been blessed to play with not only so many talented guys, but guys who are good people. There’s so many bonds that have been built that will last a lifetime and the people in that locker room is what l’ll miss most. I enjoyed every second of being with you guys and love you guys like brothers.”

Beck’s 7.8 yards per attempt was down significantly from 9.5 last season and below the Southeastern Conference average of 8.0 yards per attempt. Beck’s interception percentage has increased from 1.4 percent to 2.7 percent, tied for the fourth-highest rate in the conference. His completion percentage dropped from 72.4 percent to 64.7 percent and his 145.3 passer rating is just above the league average of 143.6.

Beck has 27 career starts over the last two seasons. His 7,912 passing yards and 58 passing touchdowns are sixth-most in program history. Beck’s 628 career completions place him fourth place all-time at Georgia. Among the top 10 quarterbacks in pass attempts at Georgia, Beck’s 68.0 percent completion percentage is No. 1, his 156.4 passer rating is third-best behind Bennett (160.9) and Aaron Murray (158.6). Beck is third behind Bennett (9.1) and Murray (8.9) with 8.6 yards per pass attempt. Beck is second only to Fromm (1.8) with a 2.2 interception percentage.

NFL Draft analyst Todd McShay recently talked on his podcast about Beck making a mistake in leaving for the draft, saying he could use another year of development.

“You look at so many of these guys and the experience they had in college,” McShay said. “The number of starts. How much better they played late in their career. Grad transfers, playing at two different schools, whatever the situation may be. Jayden Daniels, two different schools, 56 starts or whatever it was. Bo Nix, the most starts in college football history at the time, Dillon Gabriel has now surpassed him. But Bo Nix coming into the league, and the success they had as rookies, because they were more prepared. Carson Beck comes in now, not with that number of starts, not in that 50-60 start range. Coming off a year in which he struggled and regressed in some ways.

I just don’t know that he’s ready. Why wouldn’t you take this time, rehab in the offseason, come back with a better-supporting cast, they have a lot of young wide receivers, I know they have recruited well at wide receiver from what I can tell. Their offensive line will be better. They will be more balanced. Not every response I got from the league was not to the level of foolish, that was the most damning. But it was all ‘he’s making a mistake.’ He’s not going to be a first-round pick at quarterback. So now you get into the second/third round. You are talking about a four-year rookie contract.

The most likely range for him is $6-8 million guaranteed. I don’t know what his NIL is….but I have to imagine at Georgia as the starting quarterback he is going to make around $2 million, $3 million. Whether it is equal pay as a rookie versus one more year at Georgia or taking a paycut. He is not making significantly more money by going to the NFL. Yes, he speeds up that second contract. But by speeding it up, is he putting himself at a disadvantage in terms of being prepared.

Is he as ready as he would be had he gone back for one more year at Georgia. Everyone I talked to and my personal opinion is he is not going to be.”