When commenting on anything having to do with Los Angeles Rams quarterback Stetson Bennett it is important to first recognize the humanity of the situation. Bennett spent much of his rookie season away from the team dealing with a personal issue that was not injury-related. There has been much speculation about the nature of the issue, but no official statement was made.
McVay set the tone early by saying “Out of respect for him and the situation, I’m going to leave all the specifics and particulars in-house,” shortly after the team moved Bennett to the reserve/non-football illness list.
But the Rams kicked off their first organized team activities (OTAs) on Monday and Stetson Bennett was on hand practicing with the three other rostered QBs.
Stetson Bennett Makes His Return To Los Angeles Rams
The Rams backup QB situation has been in flux ever since the team moved away from John Wolford and Bryce Perkins ahead of the 2023.
They traded up to select the former Georgia Bulldog in the 2023 draft, using the 128th pick to add Bennett to the team. A few weeks later the Rams signed Brett Rypien.
Rypien assumed the backup position when Bennett took his leave of absence from the team. Rypien subsequently filled in for Matthew Stafford against the Green Bay Packers and was promptly waived after a losing effort in favor of Carson Wentz.
The precarity of the situation has not improved significantly at this point in the offseason. Bennett is back and will compete with Jimmy Garoppolo and the team retained 2023 UDFA Dresser Winn. But Garoppolo will serve a suspension for the first two weeks of the season after violating the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy. Furthermore, Garoppolo is far from a durable quarterback. He has missed 30 games due to injury in the last six seasons.
Bennett will be the front-runner to be the primary backup for the first two games, but Garoppolo will likely get the nod in the preseason, as his suspension doesn’t affect his status for those games.
Bennett started the Rams 2023 preseason games along with the other backups. In those games, he completed 58 percent of his passes for 347 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions. He was benched in the third game after throwing two interceptions on nine attempts.
