This week at UGAWire we will be holding G.O.A.T. Week, where we will examine some of the greatest coaches, players and teams in the history of Georgia football.

In this post, we will be taking a look at some of the greatest quarterbacks in the 120+ years of Georgia football. Given Georgia’s history of elite passers, this was not easy.

Related: G.O.A.T. Georgia Bulldogs teams

Related: G.O.A.T Georgia Bulldogs coaches

Related: G.O.A.T. Georgia Bulldogs running backs

Georgia has had some of the SEC’s greatest quarterbacks ever, including plenty of record holders. We went with eight guys, an odd number for a list, because I really could not bring myself to leave any of them off this list.

Greatest quarterbacks in the history of Georgia football:

8) DJ Shockley – 2002-05

DJ Shockley never saw much action in his first three seasons at Georgia, as he was a backup to another great Georgia quarterback, David Greene. But after Greene’s final season in 2004, Shockley took over the starting job during his 2005 senior season. He led the team to a 10-3 record while posting 2,588 passing yards, 24 touchdowns, and just 5 interceptions. He even notched some pretty nice rushing stats with 322 yards and 4 touchdowns. The season ultimately ended with a 38-35 Sugar Bowl loss to West Virginia, but not before being named the MVP of the SEC Championship win over LSU.

7) Fran Tarkenton – 1958-60

Fran Tarkenton is well-known for his professional success, but he did pretty well at Georgia, too. In 1959, he led Georgia to an SEC Title and an Orange Bowl win. In 1960, he topped the SEC in total offense and was named an AP All-American. After an 18 year NFL career, at the time of his retirement, Tarkenton held basically every quarterback record. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1987. Currently, Tarkenton ranks 9th in NFL career passing touchdowns with 342 and 11th on the passing yards list. Add his career rushing total to his 47,003 passing yards, and Tarkenton accounted for 50,677 yards of offense, almost 29 miles or 500 football fields. Tarkenton is responsible for forever changing the quarterback position. Also known as “The Mad Scrambler,” “Frantic Fran,” and “Scramblin’ Fran,” Tarkenton played football in a day where running quarterbacks were simply not a thing. There was an unwritten rule that if the pocket collapsed, the quarterback was expected to fall to the ground and accept the sack. Tarkenton changed that rule.

6) Eric Zeier – 1991-94

Eric Zeier started his high school career at Heidelberg American High School in Heidelberg, Germany, a school operated by the Department of Defense. Zeier’s father, a colonel in the Army, eventually moved the family to Marietta, Georgia. One of the first big-name players to graduate high school and enroll in college early, Zeier became a Georgia starter as a freshman in 1991. He was quick to break Zeke Bratkowski’s single season passing record with 1,984 yards. The next year, he broke his own record with 2,248 yards and again the next season with 3,525 yards as a junior. As a senior, he passed 3,396 yards and finished his career with 11,153 yards, which was an SEC record. Zeier finished his college career holding 67 school records and 18 SEC records. In 1994, Zeier was named a first team All-American and is a member of the Georgia-Florida Hall of Fame.

5) Matt Stafford – 2006-08

Matthew Stafford took over the starting position the season following DJ Shockley’s departure. During his three year tenure with the Dawgs, Stafford maintained his starting role and improved as a player each season. Throughout his three year career, Stafford tallied 7,731 passing yards on 57.1%, 51 touchdowns, and 33 interceptions. He also ran for 213 yards and 6 touchdowns. He led Georgia to three straight bowl victories, including the Chick-Fil-A Bowl, Sugar Bowl, and Capital One Bowl. He ended up going 1st overall in the 2009 NFL Draft to the Detroit Lions, where he still starts to this day.

4) John Rauch – 1945-48

John Rauch’s 4,212 career passing yards and 35 touchdowns in four years as a starter may not be the most head-turning numbers by today’s standards, but in the 1940’s those stats were really incredible. Rauch came to Georgia in 1945 as a pure athlete out Pennsylvania, where starred in three sports in high school. However, when he came to Athens there was not too much excitement until Coach Wally Butts noticed his skills while Rauch was playing in a game of flag football. Rauch accepted Butts’ invitation to join the team, and over the course of the next four seasons he started every single game (45). He became the first quarterback in college football history to start in four straight bowl games, and at the time of him leaving Georgia he was the NCAA’s all-time leading passer. Rauch finished his career with a 36-8-1 record that included two SEC Championships and an undefeated 1946 season that saw the Williamson poll name Georgia national champions. Together, he and hall of famer Charley Trippi formed one of the greatest teams in the 120+ years of Georgia football. In 1949, Rauch was the No. 1 player taken in the NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions. After a four year NFL career, Rauch began coaching, where he was an assistant at Georgia from 1955-58. As an NFL head coach, Rauch led the Oakland Raiders to a one-loss 1967 season and an appearance in Super Bowl II. He was named the AFL Coach of the Year that season. Rauch was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2004, chosen for the Georgia-Florida Hall of Fame in 2000 and Georgia’s Circle of Honor in 2001.

3) Jake Fromm – 2017-Present

Jake Fromm has only been with Georgia for two seasons, but he as already made his mark as one of the best quarterbacks in Georgia football history. In his freshman season for UGA, he took the starting spot away from Jacob Eason and led Georgia to a 13-2 record. The Bulldogs went on to win the SEC Championship and the Rose Bowl. They nearly won the national championship, but Alabama came back from a 20-7 deficit in the 3rd quarter to win. During his sophomore campaign, Fromm improved as a player, but Georgia fell short of its national championship goal as it was snubbed from the playoffs after another come-from-behind win from Alabama. Fromm very well could end up number one on this list by the end of his career.

2) Aaron Murray – 2010-13

Coming in 2nd on our list is Aaron Murray, who really challenged us for the position of THE greatest UGA quarterback of all-time. Murray holds nearly all of the Georgia and SEC passing records. It is too bad that he didn’t quite post the amount of wins to show for it. Throughout his four season as the Georgia starter, he led the team to a 36-18 record. But for Murray, it was all about his outstanding numbers. In his career, he had 921 completions on 1,478 attempts (62.3%) for 13,166 yards, and 121 touchdowns, all of which are Georgia records. His 13,166 passing yards was even an all-time SEC record, which still holds today. Had he been able to knock off Alabama in the 2012 SEC Championship, and likely lead Georgia to a win over Notre Dame in the National Championship Game, he would easily hold the top spot.

1) David Greene – 2001-04

At number one is David Greene. Greene started all four of his seasons at UGA and had a total record of 42-10 (80.77 win %) throughout his entire career. He put up amazing stats, including 849/1440 (59%), 11,528 passing yards, 72 touchdowns, and 32 interceptions. These numbers are some of the best in Georgia history. He won 75% of the bowl games he played in, which were the ‘02 Sugar Bowl, ‘03 Capital One Bowl, and the ‘04 Outback Bowl. Additionally, Greene was responsible for Mark Richt’s first historic season in Athens. It was just Richt’s second year, and Greene assisted in the transition of Georgia going from average to a consistent national contender with this 13-1 SEC Championship team. Georgia had beaten a ranked Alabama and a highly ranked Tennessee team to start the season off 8-0 before losing a close game to a not-so-great Florida team. Had it not been for the 20-13 loss in Jacksonville, Greene would have had a chance at winning the national title.