JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — DawgNation has reported a lot about Carson Beck over the last week.
Beck has his eye on several top targets for the rest of the 2020 class. He made a throw in the Florida Class 8A state championship that folks will not soon forget. The 6 foot-4 (and a half-inch) rising senior even convinced his QB trainer why the Bulldogs were a perfect fit for his game at the college level.
His trainer, Denny Thompson, knows the 4-star QB as well as anyone. He has helped chisel an Elite 11 QB out of a guy with just four games of varsity experience prior to last season. Beck then took the reins at Mandarin High School and went on to be a rare junior to win the “Mr. Football” honor for the state of Florida.
Thompson has strong opinions and knows just how to deliver them. That’s why he hosts a popular sports talk radio show in Jacksonville. He says the things most might expect Beck’s trainer to say.
He even shared he would put aside his allegiance to the Gators (as a fan) when it comes to Beck.
That’s his guy. After all.
In Beck, he has a pupil that he feels has as strong of a “functional arm” as he has seen recently in a prospect. There was this one other guy.
His name will come up in that video interview up above.
Where Carson Beck can get better
He also knows the work Beck still has to do. The young passer needs to work on the technical aspects of the position. Most big-time guys his age still need to do that, too.
Thompson shared his most important teaching point for Beck.
“That’s probably the part of his game where it is like ‘Carson for you to take that real next step I need you to throw the same exact ball every single time and know exactly where it is going’ and we’re working on that. A lot of that is weight distribution and has nothing to do with the arm. [It] has everything to do with weight distribution and how you use your right hip and things of that nature.”
He’s encouraged by the fact Beck is always asking him “why” things need to be done a certain way. It leads to a deeper understanding of what he is trying to learn how to do the same way every single time.
That’s what he wants to see in a young man with tools like his. Beck would devour the game film of the next opponent on Sunday mornings with Thompson. Those sessions would last up to four hours.
Thompson wouldn’t be able to deal with his wife most weekends if those sessions extended any longer.
“Those guys were then beaten by the time he hit the practice field on Monday,” Thompson said. “That is his mindset with the work it takes to be great.”
What Carson Beck can be at Georgia
Beck is not a polished product yet. Even though all the tools are there. Thompson does make that clear.
He is still big on what he can bring to the table, though. That was evident when he gave a very strong answer to this query: “What can Georgia be with Carson Beck?”
“I think with the momentum that they’ve got recruiting I think Carson is the guy who wins you a national championship,” Thompson said. “I really do.”
Big bold words. But then Thompson continued to provide the right baseline to the conversation. He did so this time by adding real accountability to his own methods.
He might regret saying this later. But he still said it.
“Carson is the kind of kid that if he is not a first-round [NFL] guy I failed him,” Thompson said. “We failed him as coaches. Everything is there: Head. Size. Arm. Everything you want is there. Leadership. I mean he’s recruiting his butt off for Georgia right now. Everything is there.”
“So if something other than injury happens. Then it is probably on me as a trainer or them as coaches or whatever it is. He is definitely the kind of talent though that you can win a national championship with.”
Want to see the full context of that statement? With a bonus thought about who Thompson feels is the best college comparison to Beck? Check out the video interview above.
Carson Beck on deck: Getting to know the UGA commit
- Carson Beck commits to UGA
- Carson Beck escalates his recruiting efforts for the Bulldogs
- Beck names off his top 5 targets for the 2020 class in Athens
- The throw Carson Beck made that the state of Florida is still buzzing about
- The first Beck win for UGA? Getting a Gator to gush about the present and future in Athens