Over the next couple of weeks, we here at Bulldawg Illustrated are going to be looking at Georgia football’s incoming freshman class of 2020 in a new series called First Year Look. The Bulldogs’ 2020 class features 25 signees that collectively finished as the No. 1 recruiting class in the country, according to 247Sports and Rivals.
Today, we will look at Mandarin High School (Jacksonville, FL) product Carson Beck.
Beck joined the team in late December as one of Georgia’s six early enrollees and was the only incoming freshman quarterback signed in his class. Both 247Sports and Rivals have Beck rated as a four-star. Beck is a 6-foot-5, 225-pound pro-style quarterback who has incredible arm strength.
“Classic pro-style quarterback build with fairly filled out frame. Tall, in-the-pocket passer with ability to spray the football all over the field. Solid mechanics and above-average arm strength with better accuracy. Anticipatory thrower with ability to change speeds, play off-platform and manipulate arm angles. Elite processing relative to starting experience. Willing to take risks. Fiery, competitive player willing to get physical as a runner if needed. Quicker than appearance suggests with good instincts on the move as a runner. In first year as full-time starter put up record-breaking passing tallies during state championship run in state of Florida’s highest classification. Should continue to make large strides as football becomes primary sport at collegiate level. Deep ball accuracy consistency could stand to improve. Will fill out more and play as bigger passer early in college career with multi-year Power Five starter potential.”
John Garcia Jr. of 247Sports
As a senior, Beck led Mandarin High School to a 7-4 record as he completed 136 of 278 passes for 1,843 yards and 20 touchdowns. He also ran for 167 yards and six scores during the 2019 season. As a junior in 2018, Beck led Mandarin to a state title in Florida’s highest school classification. He completed 206 of 356 attempts for 3,546 yards and 30 touchdowns. He earned Florida’s Mr. Football award as he led his school to their first ever state championship.
Beck has been a long time UGA pledge as he gave his verbal commitment back in March of 2019, and Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart values that.
“I’m excited as I can be for him,” Smart said of Beck in December. “This guy’s come to camp since maybe his ninth-grade year to our place, has grown up and gotten better with each and every year. He came this summer, hung out with our guys. Can’t say enough about Carson and his family, the competitive nature that’s inside him. He’s been a winner. He won a state championship last year at Mandarin, which has probably never been done before, I think at their school. So he led those guys to that and did a great job.”
Right now, Georgia’s quarterback room is loaded, especially with the news last week that former USC Trojan and five-star talent J.T. Daniels is transferring to Georgia. Currently, we don’t know if the NCAA will grant Daniels edibility immediately, but Beck will still have an uphill battle as he will have to compete with Wake Forest graduate transfer Jamie Newman. He will also have to beat out Stetson Bennett and D’Wan Mathis, who were both with the team last season.
Towards the end of his senior year, Beck received some criticism for the drop off in his numbers from his junior to senior year, but Mandarin did lose a lot of its talent after their 2018 state championship run. It’s perceived that Beck will fit right in under the direction of new offensive coordinator Todd Monken‘s system.
It helps that he enrolled early and got conditioning during offseason workouts before the coronavirus outbreak. During that time, Beck worked out with the team and also got used to living life as a student athlete, which is something that can help ease him back if he decides to report on June 8.
Don’t count Beck out just because Georgia has signed two new quarterbacks since he has arrived on campus. He has the potential to still be successful as a Bulldog, but it will be a challenge. Luckily, from what we’ve heard, is that that he is ready to take it on.
Here is a video of Beck’s highlights from his junior year in 2018: