Although Stetson Bennett won two national championships with the Georgia Bulldogs, the quarterback wasn’t a huge NFL draft prospect. Bennett has physical limitations as a QB. And any maturity and intangible leadership qualities he brings have been called into question following an off-season arrest. The QB’s NFL future didn’t look good ahead of the 2023 NFL Draft, but then Bennett found himself in his best possible situation: With Sean McVay, Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams.
Stetson Bennett could be the Rams’ starter
Georgia native Stetson Bennett has come a long way to become a signal caller who has twice won the national championship.
Bennett started his career in Georgia, went to Jones Community College after getting stuck behind Jake Fromm and Justin Fields, then came back and became the team’s starter in 2021 and 2022. As the Bulldogs’ starting QB, Bennett went 29-3 and won two championships.
Despite the team’s success, Bennett wasn’t a high-end QB prospect. He’s only 5-foot-11, 192 pounds and has an average arm at best. Also, he will be 26 in his rookie season. That’s significantly older than most players in the NFL draft.
One thing Bennett spoke for him was the maturity and leadership with which he helped lead his Georgia teams to the promised land. However, after his final college football season, Dallas police arrested Bennett for public intoxication.
Bennett answered all questions about the combine incident and admitted his mistake. But by this point it seemed like the damage was done. The best the QB could hope for was to become an end-of-draft pick in the seventh round or a priority free agent after the draft was completed.
However, something unexpected happened during the 2023 NFL Draft. When the Rams dropped their card for the number 128 in the fourth round, it had the name “Stetson Bennett” on it.
And now Stetson Bennett is not only in the best NFL location for him, but also in the one place where he could actually be a successful starter this season.
We all knew Sean McVay would be a late-round QB in the 2023 NFL Draft. Matthew Stafford is 35 and spent half of last year’s season on the shelf with a scary-sounding neck injury. Stafford is also a former Georgia Bulldog, so it’s more likely he’ll be a mentor to Bennett.
Any eventual QB going to the Rams would be in a good place as well, as McVay is an offensive genius and quarterback whisperer. He got the best of Kirk Cousins in Washington, made a Super Bowl with Jared Goff and Stafford, a perennial loser, and won a Lombardi Trophy with him.
Along with an offensive guru as a coach and a bulldog mentor as a starter, Bennett also has the advantage of already being #2 on the depth chart. He and Stafford are the only two QBs in the Rams roster at this point.
Most drafting experts (this one included) didn’t see little Stetson Bennett as a hidden gem en route to this year’s NFL draft. That said, after seeing Sean McVay do it, you need to reevaluate its potential.
And with a battered 35-year-old ahead of him and a coach unafraid to throw a young man into the fire, Stetson Bennett may be the only place we could see him as a QB starter in the NFL’s 2023 season .
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