The Los Angeles Rams drafted Stetson Bennett in the fourth round last year to be the backup to Matthew Stafford. In an ideal world, he would eventually succeed Stafford as the starting quarterback for years to come, but Bennett has work to do in order to make that happen.
Right now, he just wants to make the 53-man roster after stepping away from football in 2023 due to his mental health. He’s back with the team and working hard to make that happen, and he’s also learning a ton from the guys ahead of him on the depth chart – specifically the veteran Stafford.
Bennett was on the “UNRESERVED with TJ Callaway” podcast this week where he talked about how beneficial it’s been playing on the same team as Stafford and Jimmy Garoppolo.
“He’s the man. He’s the man,” Bennett said of Stafford. “And Jimmy, too. I’m learning a lot from him. Mainly things that you kind of – he just does the right thing, and he can throw it better than anybody. Just learning how to be a quarterback, and who knows if that’ll – I hope I’m good enough to do it, doing everything I can to do it. But just learning, and I think I did a good job of it at Georgia, of being a quarterback inside the locker room. Like, as I grew into it, a leader and do things the right way. But Matthew’s been a starting quarterback in the league for I guess 16 years now. He’s won a Super Bowl, but he’s also been on bad teams so he’s seen and known how to handle himself. So I just kind of sit back and try to learn from him. And he’s super helpful.”
Bennett is slotted in as the third quarterback on the depth chart right now, behind Stafford and Garoppolo. He’ll be battling Dresser Winn in training camp to maintain that spot on the roster because the Rams will be forced to keep one of the two when the 53-man roster is set due to Garoppolo’s two-game suspension.
Training camp is about to begin in a couple of weeks and it’s surely the most pressure-filled camp of Bennett’s life.