Fwiw, Richt only went with Stafford in 2006 after we were out of contention for the SEC East.
Joe Tereshinski, a redshirt senior and the least talented QB I have ever seen at an SEC school, started the first two games until he sprained an ankle on the first series of our second game. He missed virtually all of game two and all of games three through five. Stafford came off the bench and showed flashes at times. Joe Cox, a redshirt freshman, also saw action while Tereshinski was hurt, but it was mostly Stafford.
We were 5-0 when Tereshinski was healthy enough to return, and Richt immediately went back to him as the starter...and we promptly lost the next two games in embarrassing fashion to Tennessee and Vanderbilt. That sealed our fate in the East that year, and that's when Richt ended up going back to Stafford.