Stetson Bennett is now a two-time National Championship winning Quarterback.
Bennett led the Georgia Bulldogs to a wire-to-wire dominant 65-7 victory over the TCU Horned Frogs on Monday night to secure the school’s second-straight National Championship. The 25-year-old senior signal caller completed 18 of his 25 passes for 304 yards and four touchdowns. Bennett ran the ball three times for 39 yards and two touchdown plunges to tie Joe Burrow’s 2019 National Championship Game record with six total touchdowns accounted for.
Let’s take a look at Stetson Bennett’s career statistics while at Georgia:
Stetson Bennett Career Statistics
- 2019: 0-0, 74.1 CMP%, 260 YDS, 2 TD, 1 INT, 172.0 RTG − 4 CAR, 12 YDS, 1 TD
- 2020: 3-2, 55.5 CMP%, 1,179 YDS, 8 TD, 6 INT, 128.7 RTG − 24 CAR, 54 YDS, 2 TD
- 2021: 11-1, 64.5 CMP%, 2,862 YDS, 29 TD, 7 INT, 176.7 RTG − 54 CAR, 259 YDS, 1 TD***
- 2022: 15-0, 68.3 CMP%, 4,127 YDS, 27 TD, 7 INT, 161.2 RTG − 57 CAR, 205 YDS, 10 TD***
- Career: 29-3, 65.1 CMP%, 8,428 YDS, 66 TD, 21 INT, 160.9 RTG − 141 CAR, 530 YDS, 14 TD
*** – National Champion
Next, let’s delve into the roller coaster career of two-time national champion, Stetson Bennett:
Stetson Bennett Career Profile
Stetson Bennett was a low-tier three-star prospect coming out of Pierce County High School in Blackshear, Georgia. Bennett would walk-on to the University of Georgia. However, after five-star recruit, Justin Fields committed to UGA, Bennett decided to depart the Bulldogs for Jones County Junior College in Ellisville, Mississippi. In his 12 games at JCJC, Bennett threw for 1,840 yards while tossing 16 touchdowns.
Prior to the 2019 season, Stetson Bennett seriously considered transferring to Louisiana, however, Justin Fields famously transferred to Ohio State, leaving the backup QB spot open on Georgia, a spot that Bennett accepted and returned to the Dawgs in 2019. During the 2019 SEC Championship Game, UGA starting QB, Jake Fromm went down with an injury, allowing Bennett to take over for a short-period of time. However, Fromm and the Bulldogs got crushed by perhaps the best team in College Football history in the form of Joe Burrow and the LSU Tigers.
In 2020, D’Wan Mathis was named the starter over Bennett, but after Mathis struggled to begin the season, Bennett took over and compiled a modest 3-2 record for the Dawgs before USC transfer, JT Daniels took over for the remainder of the season.
The aforementioned Daniels was named as the starter for the 2021 season, however, Daniels would go down with an injury early on in the season and Bennett would step in admirably and was named the starter for the rest of the season. Bennett would lead UGA to the SEC Title Game following an undefeated regular season, however, Bennett would struggle mightily and the Bulldogs were throttled by Alabama. Despite the loss, Georgia was selected in the College Football Playoff. Bennett would lead the Dawgs to a victory over Michigan in the semi-finals and would get the ultimate revenge with a dominant win over Alabama in their rematch in the National Championship Game.
Bennett was the unrivaled starter to begin the Dawgs title defense and UGA picked right up where they left off in 2021. The Bulldogs would earn their second-straight undefeated regular season, which was followed up with a wire-to-wire victory over LSU in the SEC Title Game. Bennett and co. would defeat Ohio State in the College Football semi-finals in one of the best playoff games in CFB history, with a Noah Ruggles missed field goal as time expired leading to Georgia securing the 42-41 victory over the Buckeyes.
Bennett would finish the job for a second consecutive season as the Dawgs hammered the TCU Horned Frogs, 65-7 in this year’s national title game, finishing off one of the most underdog careers in College Football history.
Who Could Draft Stetson Bennett In The 2023 NFL Draft?
When it comes to who could take a chance on Bennett in this coming April’s 2023 NFL Draft, there’s a few options. Experts predict Bennett in a wide range of possibilities when it comes to draft positioning as some of the more favorable projections have the two-time champion being selected in the third-round while some of the more non-believers have the 25-year-old signal caller in the sixth or seventh-round range.
While it is certainly a lofty comparison, Stetson Bennett will hope to craft his path to NFL stardom similar to how the GOAT did it, Tom Brady. While thinking Bennett will win seven (and counting) Super Bowls and break just about every record in the history of the sport, the path could certainly be similar nonetheless. Not many physical tools that garner the WOW factor, but one of the most mentally tough players you’ll see, Bennett will more than likely be a late-round pick, this April and will likely end up as the third-string QB on most team’s depth charts when August rolls around.
However, with a strong camp and pre-season, Bennett could find himself as a backup and if it’s due to a team being out of playoff contention early on in the season or an injury, the two-time champion could find himself as a starter at some point in the 2023-24 NFL season.
Now, which teams could Stetson Bennett potentially win the backup job (with a chance at a starting job if the above were to occur)?
Let’s take a look:
- Atlanta Falcons: Desmond Ridder, Marcus Mariota
- Carolina Panthers: Sam Darnold (impending FA), PJ Walker (impending FA), Matt Corral
- Detroit Lions: Jared Goff, backup spot seemingly open
- Indianapolis Colts: Matt Ryan, Sam Ehlinger
- Las Vegas Raiders: Derek Carr (rumored trade), Jarrett Stidham
- New Orleans Saints: Andy Dalton (impending FA), Jameis Winston (impending FA)
- New York Giants: Daniel Jones (impending FA), backup spot seemingly open
- New York Jets: Zach Wilson, Mike White
- Pittsburgh Steelers: Kenny Pickett, backup spot seemingly open
- Seattle Seahawks: Geno Smith (impending FA), Drew Lock
- Washington Commanders: Carson Wentz, Sam Howell, Taylor Heinicke (impending FA)
For More College Football and Sports Content
Follow me on Twitter at @ColbysBets and follow us @WiSportsHeroics for more great content. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest College Football news as well as around the rest of the sports world, click here!
