Rams Believe Other Teams Were 'Pretending' With Stetson Bennett Draft Grade
For whatever it's worth, the Los Angeles Rams seem to believe that if they hadn't used a fourth-round pick on quarterback Stetson Bennett, someone else would have soon selected the former Georgia Bulldog.
In an in-depth feature piece in The Athletic, Jourdan Rodrigue writes that the Rams had the sense that other suitors existed for Bennett when they used the 128th overall pick on him:
"The Rams also felt that a few teams around the league were pretending they weren't as high on Bennett as they really were. One person involved in Bennett's evaluation process said he had a pit in his stomach that morning, worry they wouldn't get him."
Of course, the Rams did ultimately land their desired backup quarterback to Matthew Stafford, selecting him over other prospects at the position, including Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Aidan O'Connell and Clayton Tune.
Bennett will turn 26 during his rookie season, and there are questions both about what his upside is as an NFL player and his ability to stay out of trouble off the field. Whether other teams viewed him as a fourth-round pick or not, the Rams are the ones who ultimately pulled the trigger on selecting him. It will be interesting to see both how he performs in the preseason, and whether he sees in the field during the regular season if Stafford continues to break down physically.
The Rams did add an insurance option in case Bennett isn't ready to back Stafford up in 2023, signing veteran Brett Rypien earlier this week.
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