Why former Georgia QB Stetson Bennett had a rough first practice with the Rams
It was a bit of a surprise when the Los Angeles Rams selected Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Stetson Bennett in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Bennett won two national championships at Georgia, but he's an undersized player who has numerous off-field concerns. The Georgia native was arrested in late January in Dallas for […]
It was a bit of a surprise when the Los Angeles Rams selected Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Stetson Bennett in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Bennett won two national championships at Georgia, but he's an undersized player who has numerous off-field concerns.
The Georgia native was arrested in late January in Dallas for public intoxication. Bennett, who was a no-show for an interview the day after the Bulldogs won the national championship last season, was arrested while many of his fellow draft-eligible quarterbacks were participating in the Senior Bowl in Mobile, AL. Bennett, for whatever reason, chose to skip the important pre-draft event.
Bennett will get a chance with the Rams to serve as the primary backup to starting quarterback Matthew Stafford.
The journey to earn that role, however, got off to a rough start for Bennett this week.
Bennett was 'freaking out' on his first day of OTAs because of the play calls in the NFL.
“The first day, I was kind of freaking out about the play calls and stumbling over my words a little bit,” said Bennett. “It’s weird to hear the play call from the earpiece. It’s just completely different from seeing it in signals, which is what we did in college. He (Rams head coach Sean McVay) was very helpful. ‘You’re good, you’re good. Come on. You’ll get through it.’ So I’d have to ask him like twice, but he was helpful with that.”
“Matthew (Stafford) was like, ‘Yeah, I can hear him pretty clear.’ And I was like, ‘I can’t.’ So I gotta work on that,” added Bennett.
Bennett has a reputation as a guy who puts fun above football. So it's not a surprise that he's having some early struggles. Bennett was able to get by on his natural athleticism at Georgia. He was also surrounded by significantly more talent than all of the teams he played against in college. That won't be the case in the NFL — everyone is insanely talented at that level.
Expectations aren't high for Bennett in the NFL. And it seems that some of the pre-draft concerns that teams had about the Georgia star are already being justified.
