Stetson Bennett May Be NFL's Most Overlooked Backup QB amid Matthew Stafford Rumors

What do Brock Purdy, Desmond Ridder and Sam Howell have in common? All three quarterbacks fell in the 2022 draft class only to find themselves in a position to start as rookies for their respective teams. They're each now poised to be full-time starters.

Among the signal-callers to experience a similar fall in this year's draft, Stetson Bennett is best positioned to travel a comparable path based on where he landed and the circumstances surrounding Los Angeles Rams starter Matthew Stafford.

Stafford, who turned 35 earlier this year, missed eight games last season due to multiple injuries. After undergoing offseason elbow surgery, he suffered a concussion during the season, and then a spinal contusion forced him onto injured reserve.

The 2009 No. 1 overall draft pick has been beaten up throughout his career, but Rams head coach Sean McVay said he's in a much better place today.

"I don't think I realized it or anybody, and he would never say it because he's so tough, the amount of pain that he was working through, how limited he was," McVay told reporters. "But to have our quarterback, the command, the way that he really elevates [the team], his communication skills, it's been huge for us. He makes a significant difference."

Even so, the Rams front office must take Stafford's recent injury history into consideration when assessing their overall direction. They already got exactly what they wanted when they traded for him: a Super Bowl victory.

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The Rams have since turned their eye to the future as they continue to rebuild the roster. As a result, Stafford's contract has become prohibitive. As Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio noted, his $26 million bonus and his 2024 base salary of $31 million became fully guaranteed in March.

"I was told by a source I trust that they wanted to redo his contract. He wasn't interested," Fox Sports' Colin Cowherd recently reported (h/t Belle Fraser of the New York Post). "It limits what they can do and they were frustrated with him. And I could also see them next year taking a quarterback because the way to catch up in this league with personnel is rookie quarterback, go buy four good players."

For the Rams to save significant money, they'll have to wait until after June 1 of next year to possibly move Stafford in a trade. They could entertain offers now, but trading him would create only $1.5 million in immediate cap relief, per Over The Cap.

Depending on the source, the Rams either aggressively or passively tried to trade Stafford this offseason.

"If you're talking about shopping a guy, like, 'We're looking to offload him,' that's not what they were looking to do," Sports Illustrated's Breer told Cowherd. "But they did earmark this as a reset year."

Meanwhile, former NFL executive Mike Lombardi said on The Pat McAfee Show (h/t Jeff Smith of Sports Illustrated) that the Rams tried "with a lot of effort" to trade Stafford before his guarantees went into effect.

"When his option bonus was getting ready to kick in, they attempted, with a lot of effort, to trade him—any team could have had him," Lombardi added. "The problem was, you had to absorb the $59 million, and the Rams knew there was no way around the $59 million. They couldn't get around it unless they traded him and somebody else took it."

All the while, Bennett's idyllic end to his collegiate career as the starting quarterback of back-to-back national champions abruptly screeched to a halt during the NFL draft process.

The walk-on, who transferred away only to return to the same program and helped lead his home-state team to new heights, found himself in a difficult position when he chose not to participate in this year's all-star festivities and was arrested on a public intoxication charge leading into Senior Bowl week.

These concerns only added to issues found within Bennett's skill set.

At 5'11" and 190 pounds, the Burlsworth Trophy winner's measurements fell well short of what most front offices prefer at quarterback. Bennett also turned 25 last year, which made him look more like a long-term backup option than a potential starter.

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"He has some great moments to fall back on," an NFC personnel executive told NFL Network's Lance Zierlein, "but I still think there are too many things working against him to ever be a starter."

After landing in Los Angeles with this year's 128th overall pick, Bennett can become something more than the backup so many projected.

"I thought they did such a great job at Georgia which makes it a little bit easier of an eval, a lot of the concepts that you're going to try to ask guys to activate and execute," McVay told reporters after the selection. "He'll get to learn under a great former UGA Bulldog, Super Bowl champ Matthew Stafford. It'll be fun. We're excited about getting to work with him. He was one of the guys we really targeted from the jump and fortunately we got him."

The final line is important. The Rams didn't have a first-round selection, but they used their first Day 3 pick on Bennett. For a lineup in need of help at multiple spots, the decision to select a quarterback in the fourth carries weight.

The way that Rams decision-makers speak of Bennett—specifically McVay—suggests he can be something more in their system.

Georgia's ultra-talented roster served as another knock against Bennett. He was seen as a cog in their success, not the driving force.

The Rams didn't view it that, way, though.

"It minimized the athleticism, the ability to create off-schedule," McVay said, per ESPN's Sarah Barshop. "He's a natural thrower of the football. He can play with great anticipation, throws the ball with accuracy, plays within the timing.

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"And he's around great players, but he elevated those guys. He sees the field well. You can seize processing things quickly and he's a lot better athlete than people give him credit for."

As a pure athlete, Bennett tested well during the predraft process. According to Pro Football Network's Kent Lee Platte, his 4.67-second 40-yard-dash, 33.5-inch vertical and 9'10" broad were great-to-elite numbers among fellow quarterbacks. Bennett's 1.58-second 10-yard split was a hair quicker than Justin Fields' number.

The ball also came out of Bennett's hand much better than expected during his NFL combine throwing session. Aside from the sterling performances from Anthony Richardson and C.J. Stroud—both of whom became top-four draft picks—Bennett threw the ball as well as anyone in attendance.

Early returns have been promising, per McVay:

"I've been really pleased with him. The one thing that stands out is when the ball is in Stetson's hands, the game makes sense to him. He's got a good feel for being able to get through progressions quickly. He can feel space on the back end as it relates to different coverage counters that he's seen, but he feels open areas and gets through things quickly. I love the athleticism but there's a lot of work to be done. He stays nice and steady, doesn't get too high or low, and he's fun to be around."

Stafford is the Rams' starting quarterback for the 2023 campaign. However, the veteran's injury history coupled with the possibility of another down year for McVay's squad could eventually open the door for Bennett.

If so, the organization can embrace a reset and possibly start Bennett later this year and going into the 2024 season.

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Brent Sobleski covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @brentsobleski.