2023 NFL Draft Player Profiles: Georgia QB Stetson Bennett

From now until the 2023 NFL Draft, we will scout and create profiles for as many prospects as possible, examining their strengths, weaknesses, and what they can bring to an NFL franchise. These players could be potential top-10 picks, all the way down to Day 3 selections and priority undrafted free agents Today, I’ll be profiling Georgia QB Stetson Bennett. 

#13 Stetson Bennett, QB, Georgia (R-Senior) – 5113, 192lb

Combine invite

Measurements

The Good

— Experienced starter with a championship pedigree
— Good athlete when it comes to working outside of the pocket
— Has the mobility to extend plays and tuck and run when the play breaks down
— Does well in RPOs, being a threat to take off with his legs
— Can make full-field reads as he scans the field for an open receiver
— Shows good ball placement on throws over the shoulder and toward the sideline
— Does a good job putting the ball up to let his guy go make a play
— Fires passes over the middle of the field between zone defenders
— Can buy time with his legs to keep plays alive and allow receivers to uncover
— Commands the huddle well and carries himself with confidence
— Will pump fake DBs to get them to stall and hesitate

The Bad

— Lacks ideal height and weight for the position
— Isn’t exceptionally quick or fast as a runner
— Needs to do a better job evading pressure in the pocket
— Has ball security issues when getting hit in the pocket and as a runner
— Feels pressure coming which forces erratic passes
— Has a bad tendency to throw off his back foot and not step into his passes
— Will whip the ball while turning his shoulder to avoid contact, resulting in decreased accuracy
— Needs to play with a more stable base on most of his passes
— Passes will die on him as they travel downfield
— Lacks zip and velocity on deep passes, needing a high arc to get the ball there on deep shots
— Tends to underthrow his receivers on deep passes, forcing them to come back to the football
— Will sail passes over his intended target’s head
— Tends to hesitate on play action and rollout passes, causing his accuracy to waver
— Will turn 26 years old during his rookie season
— Benefitted from a plethora of talent around him while at Georgia
— Carries a sense of arrogance about him in interviews and instances on the field

Bio

— Redshirt Senior prospect from Blackshear, GA
— Grandfather, Buddy Bennett, played quarterback at South Carolina
— All-State Class 3A second team as a senior, Offensive Player of the Year as a junior at Pierce County High School
— Committed to Georgia as a walk-on in 2017
— Redshirted first year on campus in 2017 and was named Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year
— Transferred to Jones College in 2018 and led his team to the conference championship game, as he completed 145 passes for 1,840 yards and 16 TDs while adding 148 yards and four TDs rushing
— Re-enrolled at UGA in January 2019 and played in five of 14 games, completing 20 of 27 pass attempts with two TDs and one INT
— Started for five of 10 games in 2020 and completed 86 of 155 passes (56%) for 1,179 yards and eight TDs and six INTs while adding 54 yards and two TDs on the ground
— Started 14 games in 2021 and completed 185 of 287 pass attempts (64.5%) for 2,862 yards (10.0 YPA) and 29 TDs with seven INTs while chipping in 56 carries for 259 yards and a TD
— Started 15 games in 2022 and completed 310 of 455 pass attempts (68.1%) for 4,128 yards (9.1 YPA) and 27 TDs with seven INTs while adding 57 carries for 205 yards and ten rushing TDs
— Led Georgia to back-to-back national championships
— 2022 Heisman Trophy Finalist, 2022 Burlsworth Trophy Winner, team captain
— Learning Design and Technology major
— Was arrested on Jan. 29 in Texas for public intoxication

Tape Breakdown

Stetson Bennett took the long road as a former walk-on to college football superstar during his tenure with the Georgia Bulldogs. He started out as the scout-team QB as a true freshman and opted to play at the JUCO level for a season before coming back to Georgia. He split time at QB with JT Daniels before cementing himself as the starter during the 2021 season. The move provided to be a wise one for the Bulldogs as Georgia went on to win back-to-back national championships with Bennett at the helm of the offense.

When plugging in the tape on Bennett, you see a diminutive passer, standing just a shade over 5’11, 192lb. Still, Bennett appears to come up big in the most crucial moments of big games, displaying leadership and focus to make splash plays for the offense. He does a good job attacking the seam and showing good ball placement on throws over the receiver’s shoulder. On this clip against Ohio State, he drops the ball in-between two defenders to his receiver, who makes the catch inside enemy territory.

Here is another throw of Bennett dropping it in the bucket, this one to current Steelers WR George Pickens against Alabama a season ago. He shows good touch and arc on the pass as Pickens extends to make the play and reel in the chuck gain through the air.

Bennett is a mobile QB who executes play-action passes and boot rollouts, slinging the ball while on the run. Here is one example against the Buckeyes this past season. He executes the rollout and hits his intended target in-stride while on the move.

While he can use his legs to extend plays as a passer, Bennett can just as easily keep the ball himself and attack defenses on the ground. He was used a lot on RPO keepers as well as a scrambler from the pocket, ripping off runs like the one below on the option keep that he takes into the end zone.

While Bennett can be effective as a runner, he doesn’t have the greatest size profile at the position. This leads to him taking some big hits, oftentimes jarring the football loose. Sometimes he simply loses grip of the football as you can see in the two examples below. In the first clip the ball slips out of his grip while the second clip shows Bennett coughing up the ball when he gets hit as a runner.

Bennett also has some bad tendencies as a passer that show up on tape, including throwing off his back foot and not stepping into several of his throws. This results in a whipping motion of his body, throwing off his accuracy. He manages to complete a nice pass in the second of the three-play sequence below. But the lack of stepping into the pass on the other clips results in an incompletion and an underthrow that results in an INT.

Bennett tends to panic in the pocket when he feels pressure coming at him, resulting in some erratic passes after he releases the football. Watch the first clip of Bennett feeling the pressure. He pump fakes, throwing the ball well over his receiver’s head in tight coverage, almost resulting in an INT. The next two-play sequence below shows Bennett failing to escape the pocket as the pressure closes in and he takes the sack when he has multiple escape routes. The second play shows Bennett feeling the pressure coming on his back as he fires the ball to the goal-line away from his intended target.

While Bennett has enough arm strength to stretch the field vertically, his zip and velocity wane the further the ball has to go. He relies on throwing a high-arching pass to push the ball down the field and will underthrow deep routes due to lack of velocity, making his receivers come back to the football. He manages to complete this first pass down the field as the ball placement is to the outside. The second pass falls incomplete as he is unable to drive the pass down the field was the defender steps in-front of the intended target to knock it down.

Conclusion

Stetson Bennett is an experienced, decorated prospect who beat higher-ranked recruits and overcame adversity to become a Heisman Trophy finalist and a two-time national champion as a former walk on.

He can make full-field reads, show touch and ball placement in tight coverage and use his athleticism to extend plays and create for himself as a runner. However, he doesn’t profile as a starting caliber QB due to his height and thin frame. He has bad tendencies as a passer due to poor mechanics regarding his footwork and arm angles, often slinging pass off his back foot without stepping into his throw resulting in decreased accuracy. His rm strength is below average, and he doesn’t handle pressure well in the pocket, resulting in erratic passes.

When watching Bennett, I see a lot of similarities to Logan Woodside, who came out of Toledo. He is also an undersized QB by NFL standards, possessing a thin frame and less than ideal height. He can operate as a dual threat like Bennett did, using his legs to extend plays as well as tuck and run himself. He was a prolific passer at the college level, throwing for over 10,000 yards and 93 TDs, but was drafted at the end of the seventh round in 2018 due to lack of upside to become a starting-caliber QB.

I foresee Bennett also going somewhere near the end of Day Three as a QB that can come in as the third guy on the depth chart. He could work his way into becoming a quality backup should he clean up his mechanics and improve his pocket presence. The Steelers need a QB3 behind Kenny Pickett and Mitch Trubisky, making Bennett a potential fit giving his production and pedigree. However, he will turn 26 years old during the season, which could have Pittsburgh looking for a younger option with more upside.

Projection: Day Three
Depot Draft Grade: 6.3– End of Roster/ Practice Squad (6th Round)
Games Watched: vs TCU (2022), vs Ohio State (2022), vs Alabama (2022)