Stetson Bennett’s unlikely journey now includes being drafted in the NFL after fears he might not hear his name called.
The Georgia quarterback, who helped lead the Bulldogs to back-to-back national championships, was selected No. 128 overall in the fourth round by the Los Angeles Rams on Saturday.
Bennett, due to certain red flags, was considered a potential late-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, and one executive who spoke to ESPN believed Bennett could go undrafted.
Once considered a fourth-round pick by ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. in March, the former Georgia walk-on had tumbled down 2023 NFL Draft boards in recent weeks before ultimately being taken earlier then expected.
From his public intoxication arrest in January to coaches wondering how he’ll react to a backup role in the league, Bennett hasn’t done himself any favors.
Bennett, who will be 26 in October, had a disaster of a draft process, but that didn’t seem to matter to the Rams.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero projected Bennett as the 11th-ranked quarterback in this year’s crop, behind projected sixth-rounder Dorian Thompson-Robinson of UCLA.
“He’s a talented thrower, man. He’s competitive. He’s got the ability to make all the throws. He’s a playmaker. He’s accurate. He has a high football IQ,” one coach told Pelissero of the 5-foot-11, 193-pound quarterback.
“He’s just undersized. You see bad body language. He has a super-high opinion of himself. He’s talented, but is he going to be one of those dudes that sits behind just thinking he’s better than everyone else?”
That sure sounds like a Josh Rosen-esque scenario, the 10th-overall pick in the 2018 draft who hasn’t started an NFL game since 2019, bouncing from Arizona to Miami to Atlanta and is now unsigned.
Bennett did produce on the field for Georgia, throwing for 4,128 yards, 27 touchdowns and seven interceptions last season while completing 68.1 percent of his passes.
ESPN analysts Matt Miller and Jordan Reid had projected Bennett to be picked up by the Cowboys in the seventh round after they traded for pick No. 250.
But oddsmakers at FanDuel Sportsbook were even less bullish than the top NFL Draft prognosticators.
Bennett was almost a favorite not to hear his name at all on Day 3, with odds at +100 to go undrafted.
Instead, he will be heading to Los Angles to play behind another fellow Georgia quarterback in Matthew Stafford.