If recent history is an indication, the Sunday morning arrest of Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett in Old East Dallas will have little effect on his draft stock. The two-time national champion already was expected to be a late-round pick.
Bennett was arrested and charged with public intoxication, according to Dallas police, after being picked up at 6:10 a.m. Sunday by officers responding to reports of a man banging on doors in the 1600 block of Tribeca Way.
Police determined Bennett was intoxicated and transported him to the City Detention Center. According to WFAA-TV, he was released around 11 am. Bennett left the jail wearing a black hoodie and declined to answer a question before getting into a black SUV. He had his head covered in the passenger seat as the vehicle drove away.
Bennett isn’t the first quarterback prospect to be arrested in recent years. In 2017, Baker Mayfield was arrested following his junior year at Oklahoma and charged with public intoxication, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and fleeing police, according to law enforcement officials in Arkansas.
Before the arrest, Mayfield had finished in the top five of the Heisman voting. Mayfield won the Heisman Trophy his senior season and the arrest didn’t hurt his draft stock as he became the No. 1 overall pick by Cleveland in the 2018 NFL draft.
Alabama quarterback Mac Jones was arrested in 2017 and charged with driving under the influence and also charged with improper identification as a minor. Jones was suspended for a game against LSU. Jones was a freshman at the time of the arrest.
Yet, Jones was able to move forward after the arrest. He led Alabama to a national title, beating Ohio State in the 2021 College Football Playoff championship.
Jones was drafted in the first round (15th overall) by New England in the 2021 NFL draft.
Despite these arrests occurring in college, character concerns were raised about the maturity level of both players.
The biggest difference between the arrests of Mayfield and Jones was their transgressions came when they were in college while Bennett’s came just months before the draft.
Bennett’s size (5-11) and lack of mobility will be issues for him with NFL teams. Bennett’s age, 25, is another concern because some NFL teams would expect him to be a little more mature given how long he’s played in college and his knowledge of the consequences of being arrested. Bennett apparently is working out in the Dallas area and chose to do that over participating in this week’s Senior Bowl practices in Mobile, Ala.
“I don’t know with Stetson, I’ve talked to everyone around the league, everyone’s got sixth- or seventh-round grades on him, which is better than when he started,” Jim Nagy, the executive director of the Senior Bowl, told the McElroy and Cubelic podcast last week. “Even in November when we were starting to build this roster and send invites out, most of the teams had [undrafted free agent] grades on Stetson Bennett.”
Alabama’s Bryce Young and Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud are expected to go within the Top 5 selections. Kentucky’s Will Lewis and Florida’s Anthony Richardson also are expected to go in the first round.
