NFL intelligence feed

Stetson Bennett's status with the Los Angeles Rams remains uncertain as Sean McVay continues to evaluate his value as backup quarterback. McVay never explicitly committed to Bennett being one of the three quarterbacks the team will carry on the initial 53-man roster. The source questions the logic of carrying Bennett as a third quarterback in his fourth year with little prospect of starting, suggesting he should be cut or traded rather than retained.

McVay is actively mulling Bennett's value to the Rams as backup quarterback, with the head coach leaving the door open for rookie Ty Simpson to win the job by Week 1 against the 49ers. Despite Bennett being in his fourth year, McVay stated one of Bennett or Simpson 'will be the backup in Australia,' signaling Bennett's roster spot is not secure. The source argues carrying Bennett as a third quarterback seems strange given his lack of starting potential, questioning the point of keeping him on the 53-man roster at all.

Stetson Bennett's preseason performance against the Saints was overhyped; the box score can lie, and Bennett is not ready to backup Matthew Stafford, despite being in the final year of his rookie contract with the Rams at age 28.

Bennett demonstrated concerning efficiency issues in preseason action against New Orleans despite filling the stat sheet; he threw behind moving receivers, sailed passes, and left several big plays on the field. While his running ability provides a high floor, he struggles with tight window throws and misses hard passes more often than not. Against starting defenses with tighter coverage than exhibition games, a regular season offense led by Bennett would not be efficient. Max Klare assesses Bennett as not ready to be a reliable backup QB, comparing him unfavorably to Jimmy Garoppolo's standard.

Max Klare argues Bennett's preseason performance against New Orleans was overhyped by box score watchers; while Bennett filled the stat sheet, film review reveals inefficient throwing mechanics, a concerning trend of throwing behind moving receivers, and balls that sailed on him, leaving several big plays on the field. Klare emphasizes that in a regular season offense led by Bennett, efficiency would be compromised; starting defenses will play tighter coverage than exhibition games allow, and Bennett isn't making tight window throws or converting hard passes at an acceptable rate. Bennett's running ability provides a high floor, but he isn't Jimmy Garoppolo-caliber as a backup.

The source predicts the Rams will likely start Ty Simpson on Thursday against the Chargers and let him play the entire game, then cut Bennett and attempt to place him on the practice squad. The source states Bennett belongs on the practice squad based on his preseason performance over his entire career and Saturday's game, and that it is "unrealistic to expect Bennett to replace Stafford in a game and not have it be a total disaster."

Bennett's reads are heavily skewed toward first read: 70% of plays were first read, 14% second read, 3% third/fourth read, and 13% unclear. Bennett completed 75% of first-read routine throws but only 40% of first-read difficult throws. On second read, he went 4-of-4, but the source notes this is because Bennett is reliant on pre-snap instructions and wide-open receivers rather than reading the defense in real time.

Bennett went 13-of-22 out of shotgun (59% completion rate, 5.5 Y/A) and 5-of-8 on play action (5.6 Y/A). However, the source notes key differences from Stafford's identical formation splits: Stafford completed 68% and 8.4 Y/A on play action while running more complex reads downfield (30 yards to Puka Nacua), whereas Bennett's play-action plays are mostly designed rollouts with wide-open tight ends at the line of scrimmage. Bennett is "clearly more comfortable" out of shotgun because it's easier than play-action, which requires reading the defense—a weakness for Bennett.

Bennett completed 12-of-15 routine passes for 80 yards (80% completion rate) but only 4-of-8 difficult passes for 64 yards; all four incompletions on difficult throws were uncatchable. Beyond 10-15 yards, Bennett is "probably just bad" in terms of accurate passes with good ball placement by NFL standards, with several short throws also uncatchable. The source notes Bennett is not a very accurate quarterback beyond 10-15 yards and expects it to be "a total disaster" if Bennett replaces Stafford in a game.

The source provides detailed film analysis of Bennett's preseason performance against the Saints, charting 30 of 31 passes and concluding that 'pass-to-pass on Saturday, Stetson Bennett was more bad than good. And the "good" was not NFL-level good. It was just "preseason good enough"." The source notes that while Bennett rushed for two touchdowns, his passing showed critical flaws: he turned down open receivers (including a wide-open Jarquez Hunter on fourth-and-1 who was six yards away), threw uncatchable passes, displayed poor decision-making under pressure, and showed miscommunication on plays. The source emphasizes that Bennett is not any better now than he was three years ago as a quarterback no team wanted.

The source projects that if Bennett is cut, he would almost certainly clear waivers and no NFL team would claim him. The source systematically analyzes where Bennett could land: NFC West teams (Seahawks, 49ers, Cardinals) all have three quarterbacks they're keeping; McVay tree coaches (Packers, Vikings, Bengals) are set at QB; the Jaguars with Liam Coen are unlikely to disrupt their quarterback room with Nick Mullens already familiar with the system and Trevor Lawrence's development. The source concludes that Bennett would be a third-string quarterback on any team and that most teams see he has no future as an NFL starter.