Stetson Bennett IV ‘comes to life’ for L.A. Rams, earns rave reviews

Stetson Bennett IV reminded the Rams why they drafted him, taking full advantage of his opportunities in a 34-0 preseason NFL win over the Saints on Saturday.

“You can feel his teammates enjoy him. He’s an easy guy to be able to root for. He’s just got kind of a nice swag and a nice presence,” Rams coach Sean McVay said in a news conference dominated by questions about Bennett.

“His game comes to life in game-day settings, (it’s) the gamer thing. He’s got a good feel and it’s not too big, and he loves competing, and it’s fun to watch him do it.”

McVay had created some doubt as to what was next in the Rams’ quarterback rotation after first-round pick Ty Simpson enjoyed a strong performance in Los Angeles’ preseason opener Aug. 15.

That had led some to speculate that Simpson could be on the verge of overtaking Bennett, who is in the fourth and final year of his NFL rookie contract, for the second-team job.

Daniel Jeremiah, a noted NFL insider with the NFL Network, said before Bennett’s stirring Saturday night performance that he was confident the Rams would keep the former Georgia star on their roster.

“To me, Stetson Bennett, I’ve seen him do this stuff that he’s done in the preseason. I’ve seen Stetson Bennett do that live in person several times,” Jeremiah said on the “Rich Eisen Show” on Friday. “I think Stetson Bennett understands this thing. He can get you through a stretch of games if you needed to.”

Jeremiah’s reasoning why the Rams would not cut Bennett in an attempt to re-sign him to their practice squad is that another team would claim him off waivers.

“I don’t know that they’d be able to get him down to the practice squad without him getting claimed,” he said. “I would lean towards (keeping) three,” Jeremiah said, referring to how many QBs the Rams will keep on their active roster.

“I know a lot of teams don’t want to do that, but where they are right now — if they end up making Ty the No. 2 with their expectations for this season going into the fall, that’ll tell you that he’s way ahead of schedule, in my opinion.”

Bennett was clearly the more effective quarterback against the Saints, leaving no doubt he could handle the role of being the primary backup to starting quarterback Matthew Stafford.

Bennett was 19-of-31 passing for 181 yards against the Saints, his style of play rekindling memories of his seasons leading Georgia to national championships as he scrambled for two touchdowns.

“They are constantly reminding me in practice, especially in the red zone, if it’s not there, take off,” Bennett said, explaining his decisions to tuck and run the ball.

“I definitely felt more comfortable out there than years prior.”

McVay said Bennett’s strong performance is a byproduct of the hard work he has put in, even when he was the third-string QB behind Stafford and former backup Jimmy Garoppolo.

“You look at a lot of instances last year, he’s walking around the field with (QB coach) Dave Ragone and going through mental reps, because Jimmy and Matthew took the majority of those (on-field) reps,” McVay said.