Gunner Stockton named to 2026 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Top 15

Georgia football fifth year quarterback Gunner Stockton has been named to the 2026 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Top 15, the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Educational Foundation, Inc., has announced.

From 27 to 15. Who’s taking home the 2026 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award presented by @AOSmithHotWater? 👀 Drop your pick below ⬇️

Rocco Becht, Penn State
CJ Carr, Notre Dame
Devon Dampier, Utah
Noah Fifita, Arizona
Kevin Jennings, SMU
Avery Johnson, Kansas State
Sam Leavitt,… pic.twitter.com/dv6p64v2W0

— Golden Arm Award (@GoldenArmAward) October 8, 2026

The Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award is presented annually to the “…top senior or upperclassman quarterback set to graduate with their class.” Prior to the season, Stockton was one of 27 student-athletes named to this year’s watch list that is based on “player performance on and off the field.”

Below are the Top 15 quarterbacks for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award:

Rocco Becht, Penn State
CJ Carr, Notre Dame
Devon Dampier, Utah
Noah Fifita, Arizona
Kevin Jennings, SMU
Avery Johnson, Kansas State
Sam Leavitt, LSU
Jayden Maiava, USC
Arch Manning, Texas
Drew Mestemaker, Oklahoma State
Dante Moore, Oregon
Julian Sayin, Ohio State
Gunner Stockton, Georgia
Conner Weigman, Houston
Demond Williams Jr., Washington

The winner of the 2026 Golden Arm Award will be presented with the trophy at the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award celebration in Baltimore, Maryland, on December 9.

Gunner Stockton, a 6-foot-1, 215-pound fifth year player, hails from Tiger, Ga. Stockton started in all 14 games last season, completing 269-of-386 passes for 2,894 yards and 24 touchdowns with only five interceptions. He also rushed for 462 yards and 10 touchdowns. Stockton was later named to the Coaches All-SEC Third Team and finished seventh in Heisman voting.

Through five games this season, Stockton has completed 77-of-102 passes for 1,049 yards, 13 touchdowns, and only one interception. He has also rushed 20 times for 122 yards.

Second-ranked Georgia (5-0, 3-0 SEC) is next scheduled to face sixth-ranked Alabama (5-0, 3-0 SEC) on Saturday, October 10 at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The game will be televised by ABC beginning at 7:30pm ET (Buy Tickets).

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