Matthew Stafford has a new backup in Los Angeles — and he’s a fellow Georgia Bulldog who has also won a title at SoFi Stadium.
The Rams took quarterback Stetson Bennett with the 128th overall pick in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, meaning Bennett will now suit up for home games in the building where he finished his storybook Georgia career in January by leading the Bulldogs to their second consecutive national championship.
Bennett immediately slots in behind Stafford as No. 2 on the Rams’ current quarterback depth chart. The 34-year-old Stafford, who helped lead the Rams to a Super Bowl title in 2021 but missed the final eight games of last season with a neck injury, is the only other quarterback currently on the Rams’ roster.
Baker Mayfield, a midseason signing who played in the Rams’ final five games of the 2022 season after being cut by the Carolina Panthers, joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the offseason. Backup quarterbacks John Wolford and Bryce Perkins, who both also saw playing time in 2022 after Stafford’s injury, are currently free agents.
Still, the Rams picked Bennett higher than where many expected him to be selected. FOX Bet had Bennett’s projected draft slot in hypothetical odds at No. 155 in January, nearly a full round after where Bennett was selected. Bennett was also arrested for public intoxication in Dallas in late January, adding another blow to the 5-foot-11, 190-pound quarterback’s already low draft stock.
However, according to NFL Network, the 25-year-old Bennett was Rams general manager Les Snead’s “favorite” quarterback in the entire draft, and he now gives the Rams some championship-caliber experience to back up Stafford, a legendary Georgia quarterback in his own right, next season and possibly beyond.
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