Many NFL analysts weren’t sure where Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett was going to go in the 2023 draft, as he’s a 25-year-old former walk-on perceived by some as a game manager, despite having led the Bulldogs to two national championships. In the end, the Rams took him in the fourth round, and Los Angeles believes there is something special about him
Although some observers don’t believe Bennett is an NFL-caliber player, the Rams definitely believe he can play at the next level. After the draft, Rams general manager Les Snead explained how Bennett stood out to him.
“Georgia has got a good offensive line, so anytime you’d go to watch defenders in the SEC you’d go, ‘Oh, let’s watch Georgia. They’re the best team. They’ve got a good offensive line, and it was interesting,” Snead said. “You just come away going, ‘Wow, I thought people said that guy was just maybe, whatever kind of manage-the-game-type QB.’ But what you did is you just go, ‘Whoa, wait a minute, look at that guy move, look at him buy some time, look at him anticipate some throws.’ And just you come away thinking, ‘Wow, he was a weapon for Georgia.’”
Head coach Sean McVay agreed with Snead’s sentiment and added that Bennett’s reputation as a walk-on game manager doesn’t match his production for the Bulldogs.
“People take for granted that this guy is just a really good football player because of the background, and the way that he became the starter at Georgia is a little bit unconventional and it wasn’t the five-star route. But I think it minimized the athleticism, the ability to create off-schedule,” McVay said.
Additionally, even though Georgia had myriad talent around Bennett, McVay believes the quarterback helped his Bulldogs teammates as much as they helped him.
“He’s around great players, but he elevated those guys,” McVay said. “He sees the field well. You can seize processing things quickly, and he’s a lot better athlete than people give him credit for. And I think there’s an edge to him that’s a positive. You want some competitors that have some stuff to him that (when) things don’t always go well, they’re unfazed and they can kind of move on and be able to reset themselves.”
Bennett immediately becomes the Rams’ backup quarterback behind Matthew Stafford, and the team will give him a chance to develop from there. As a rare back-to-back national champion, Bennett already brings winning experience to a team that is trying to rebuild on the fly.
