Stetson Bennett's year away from NFL was 'beneficial' for the 'exhausted' QB: Rams GM Les Snead

Stetson Bennett was selected by the Los Angeles Rams in the fourth round of 2023 NFL Draft following an impressive college football career. He helped the Georgia Bulldogs win two consecutive college football national championships but slipped a bit in the draft due to his lack of physical tools and some off-the-field issues.

After the Rams took a chance on the proven winner, he earned the back-up quarterback role behind Matthew Stafford entering his rookie season. He unfortunately suffered a shoulder injury prior to Week 1 before landing on the NFI list for the remainder of the season.

Rams general manager Les Snead recently discussed Bennett's time away from the team last year during a recent interview with Chuck Williams of WRBL, according to Cameron DaSilva of Rams Wire.

Snead explained:

"I know this, last year was very beneficial for him. I think he took advantage of that year away from the game. You know what, he's an exhausted human being based on everything he had done to walk on, to go to JUCO, to come back, to turn down small schools, to say, 'I'm going to try to do this Georgia thing.'

"To win a job, then to win the thing, and then to determine, 'I'm going to come back.' And when you come back, it's really win it again or you failed. And that does take a toll on a human being, so I was jacked for Stetson to be able to take that moment and breathe a little bit."

Snead outlined Stetson Bennett's miraculous journey to eventually being drafted to the NFL. He walked on to Georgia in 2017, transferred to community college in 2018, returned to Georgia in 2019, started in 2020, served as a back up to JT Daniels in 2021, and then won two consecutive championships after replacing him before being drafted by the Rams.

The Rams general manager basically explained that Bennett was burned out after such an eventful journey, but used his time away last season to reset. He is back with the team ahead of the 2024 NFL season and apparently ready to compete again for a back-up role.

Stetson Bennett outlook for 2024 NFL season

Stetson Bennett

Matthew Stafford appears to be firmly locked in as the Los Angeles Rams' starting quarterback for the upcoming 2024 NFL season, as long as he remains healthy. This means that Stetson Bennett will potentially have an opportunity to serve as his back-up, if hecanwin the role again, as he did during the offseason of his rookie year.

He will have some legitimate competition to do so after the Rams brought in veteran Jimmy Garoppolo to give their quarterbacks additional depth. They also have Dresser Winn on their roster, so it will be interesting to see how their depth chart unfolds as Week 1 approaches.