Georgia QB Stetson Bennett vs. 49ers Brock Purdy? Falcons Share NFL Draft Thoughts
Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Stetson Bennett has had an outstanding week, highlighted by his second consecutive National Championship in which he won Offensive MVP for the fourth time in as many College Football Playoff games.
Now, he's drawing praise from Atlanta Falcons starting cornerback Casey Hayward, a two-time All-Pro who missed the final 11 games after sustaining a shoulder injury in Week 6.
Hayward compared Bennett to San Francisco 49ers rookie quarterback Brock Purdy, who led his team to a 41-23 victory over the Seattle Seahawks in the playoff opener on Saturday afternoon.
Here's what Hayward said about Bennett and Purdy via Twitter ...
Purdy, who was selected with the final pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, had a successful college career at Iowa State, twice earning first team All-Big 12 during his four years under center.
He began the season as San Francisco's No. 3 quarterback but rose to the top of the depth chart after injuries to starting signal callers Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo.
During Saturday's win over Seattle, Purdy went 18 of 30 for 322 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions to remain undefeated through six career starts.
Purdy, 23, has largely won with accuracy, intelligence and moxie, which some pundits find to be strengths of Bennett, as well. As for the Bulldogs passer, he became a subject of Falcons coach Arthur Smith and general manager Terry Fontenot's end-of-season press conference, with the former commenting on his strong campaign.
"Got to give him a lot of credit," Smith said. "(He's) won a lot of games."
Smith added that the Falcons' brass hasn't yet started the evaluation process on Bennett, who finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting, as a pro prospect ... but it appears as if Hayward already has.
And Hayward, an Atlanta native and former Vanderbilt Commodore, seems to like what he's seen out of Bennett - so much so that he's compared him to one of the league's rookie of the year candidates.
You can follow Daniel Flick on Twitter @DFlickDraft
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