Player Bio
Bennett comes from a football family, with his grandfather, Buddy, playing quarterback for South Carolina and coaching for several schools. His father, Stetson III, took snaps at Georgia Southern before deciding to transfer to Georgia for pharmacy school. Stetson IV signed with Georgia as a walk-on in 2017. With Jake Fromm and Justin Fields on the roster in 2018, however, Bennett transferred to Jones College (1,840 yards, 16 TDs in 12 games). He nearly signed with the University of Louisiana before Georgia reached out to see if he would return for 2019, with Fields transferring to Ohio State. Bennett went back to Athens as a reserve that season (20-27-74.1%, 260 yards, two TDs, one INT passing; 4-12-3.0, one TD rushing in five games). Fromm moved on to the NFL, and Bennett got a chance to start five games in 2020 (86-155-55.5%, 1,179 yards, eight TDs, six INTs passing; 24-54-2.3, two TDs rushing), splitting time with USC transfer J.T. Daniels. Bennett began the 2021 season coming off the bench, but an injury to Daniels put him in the lineup. He started 12 of 14 games played on the year (185-287-64.5%, 2,862 yards, 29 TDs, seven INTs passing; 56-259-4.6, one TD rushing), leading the team to a national title by earning Offensive MVP honors in both playoff games. Bennett was the Offensive MVP of both Georgia’s playoff games in 2022, as well, leading the Bulldogs to a second straight title. He started all 15 games (310-454-68.3%, 4,127 yards, 27 TDs, seven INTs passing; 57-205-3.6, 10 rushing TDs) to garner second-team All-SEC honors. He was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy and won the Burlsworth Trophy as the nation’s top player who began his career as a walk-on. Bennett ranked sixth in the nation in passing yards, sixth in passing yards per attempt (9.1), seventh with 4,332 yards of total offense and 10th in completion percentage. Bennett was arrested early on Jan. 29 in Texas for public intoxication. Bennett discussed the incident at the NFL Scouting Combine, calling it “a mistake that everybody’s aware of.” — by Chad Reuter
Analysis
By Lance Zierlein NFL Analyst
Draft Projection Rounds 5-6
NFL Comparison Nick Mullens
Overview
Bennett will turn 26 years old during his rookie season and he’s small in stature relative to today’s game. Those two things will work against him, but his history of elevating his play in spotlight games against the best competition should be a factor for some teams. He doesn’t have a plus arm and his accuracy and placement can vary from drive to drive, but he throws with anticipation and has shown an ability to get through progressions as a pro-style passer. He’s rarely sacked and has the mobility to do damage outside of the pocket. Bennett has backup potential for a timing-based passing attack that includes concepts often seen in the Shanahan offense.
Strengths
- Confidence and focus appear to elevate in the biggest games.
- Posted 308.8 passing yards per game with a completion rate of 67.7 percent and TD-INT ratio of 19:3 while going 5-1 over last six postseason games.
- Able to scan progressions across the entire field.
- Moves his feet with his eyes for throw readiness.
- No trouble coming off of primary read if it isn’t there.
- Pump fakes to freeze cornerback on high/low concepts.
- Makes throws with excellent anticipation from the pocket.
- Sacked just 24 times over the past two seasons, per PFF.
- Athletic with very good speed once he becomes a runner.
Weaknesses
- Very small and slight for the position by NFL standards.
- Game to game consistency has been an issue at times.
- Needs to navigate the pocket for cleaner launch points.
- Lacks drive velocity to fit throws into a tight window.
- Will fall off of some throws unnecessarily.
- Release timing for play-action and rollouts is uneven.
- Runs targets into collisions on zone throws between hashes.
- Struggles with placement, touch and distance on many deep throws.
Sources Tell Us
“He has some great moments to fall back on, but I still think there are too many things working against him to ever be a starter.” — Personnel executive for NFC team