The Los Angeles Rams drafted Georgia’s two-time national championship-winning quarterback Stetson Bennett with their first choice in Saturday’s final day of the three-day NFL draft.
The Rams used the 26th choice in the fourth round, the 128th overall selection, to draft the 25-year-old Bennett. The Rams acquired the pick Friday in a trade with the New York Giants, also acquiring the 26th choice in Friday’s third round, the 89th overall selection, in exchange for the 10th pick in the third round, the 73rd overall choice.
General manager Les Snead said the choice in part stemmed from Georgia’s strong offensive line.
“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.
“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.’ And I made a joke internally that he’s got a bad PR agent because his image is not maybe being, let’s call it a talented player, was probably a little false.”
Bennett completed his college career by quarterbacking the Bulldogs to 17 consecutive victories, including a 65-7 victory over TCU in the College Football Playoff title game Jan. 9 at SoFi Stadium where he threw four touchdown passes and ran for two more scores and was selected as the offensive player of the game.
Bennett was also the offensive player of the game in Georgia’s victory over Ohio State in a College Football Playoff semifinal on New Year’s Eve and both its playoff semifinal and title game victories for the 2021 season. Bennett was fourth in the voting for the 2022 Heisman Trophy, won by USC quarterback Caleb Williams.
Bennett began a six-season college career as a walk-on at Georgia in 2017 who did not play in a game, then transferred to Jones County Junior College in Ellisville, Mississippi for the 2018 season. He returned to Georgia for the 2019 season, became the starter on a permanent basis following an injury to former USC quarterback JT Daniels in the 2021 opener and kept the job for the rest of his college career.
Because of Bennett’s “journey people take for granted that this guy is just a really good football player,” Rams coach Sean McVay said.
“Because of the background and the way that he became the starter at Georgia is a little bit unconventional and it wasn’t the five-star route, but I think it minimized the athleticism, the ability to create off-schedule,” McVay said.
“He’s a natural thrower of the football. He can play with great anticipation, throws the ball with accuracy, plays within the timing. 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.
“And I think there’s an edge to him that’s a positive. You want some competitors that have some stuff to him that things don’t always go well, they’re unfazed and they can kind of move on and be able to reset themselves.”
The Rams chose one of the linemen who protected Bennett with their third pick Saturday, tackle Warren McClendon, chosen with a compensatory pick at the end of the fifth round, the round’s 40th choice and 174th overall selection.
The Rams drafted Appalachian State linebacker Nick Hampton with their second pick of the day, the 27th pick in the fifth round, the 161st overall selection.
In the sixth round, the Rams drafted TCU defensive back Tre’Vius Tomlinson, a nephew of Pro Football Hall of Fame running back LaDainian Tomlinson, with the round’s fifth choice, the 182nd overall selection, Nebraska linebacker Ochaun Mathis with the 12th choice, the 189th overall selection, and Mississippi running back Zach Evans with a compensatory pick, the round’s 38th choice and 215th overall selection.
In the seventh and final round, the Rams drafted Wingate punter Ethan Evans with the sixth pick, the 223rd overall selection, Oklahoma State defensive back Jason Taylor with the 17th pick, the 234th overall selection and Toledo defensive tackle Desjuan Johnson with a compensatory pick, the round’s 42nd selection and the draft’s 259th and last selection, earning him the title of Mr. Irrelevant.
Johnson will be honored during Irrelevant Week, planned for June 22-26 in Orange County.
The Rams conducted the draft from a 10,000-square-foot home in Tarzana they dubbed the “SoFi Draft Lab,” continuing their tradition of drafting from a luxury home in the greater Los Angeles region.