Heading into the 2023 NFL Draft, Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Stetson Bennett IV was not considered one of the top quarterbacks in the draft class. But it sure sounds like the Los Angeles Rams are excited to have him.
During a post-draft press conference, Rams general manager Les Snead explained that he heard all the criticism of Bennett, but that’s not what he saw on the tape.
“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 according to Sports Illustrated. “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.’”
Rams head coach Sean McVay echoed that assessment, pointing out that while Bennett played with great players at Georgia, he also made those great players even better.
“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.”
It sounds like the Rams think they got a steal in the fourth round.
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