Sean McVay evaluates Stetson Bennett's play in NFL preseason debut vs. Chargers

Two-time College Football Playoff national champion and former Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett received the most opportunity during the Los Angeles Rams’ preseason opener against the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday. The rookie impressed his head coach, Sean McVay, while on the field, too.

Bennett finished Saturday’s game completing 17-of-29 passes for 191 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions in his NFL preseason debut. On the negative side, he was sacked three times for 36 yards in the Rams’ 34-17 loss to the Chargers.

But McVay took away more positives than negatives regarding Bennett’s play.

“I thought he did a nice job,” McVay told reporters, per ESPN. “There were some tough situations there, and you could see the athleticism where he escaped.”

Bennett’s best possession of the day came in his first drive. He orchestrated a 16-play, 75-yard drive that got the Rams into the end zone for the first time in the game.

“In that scoring drive, he was able to get into a rhythm,” McVay said. “I thought he did a nice job of being able to exhaust some of his progressions. … You could see that it was a step in the right direction.”

Bennett took a majority of the snaps over Brett Rypien, who threw just six passes in Saturday’s contest. he completed three for 11 yards.

Despite leading the Bulldogs to back-to-back national championships, Bennett wasn’t considered among the top quarterbacks in the 2023 NFL Draft class. He still landed in Los Angeles as a fourth-round selection, going No. 128 overall.

It’s safe to say that Bennett still has quite a ways to go in the NFL. To stick around, he’ll have to continue to improve over the course of training camp and in the preseason. But he made a pretty strong first impression on McVay in his debut.

That’s a good sign for the former UGA star.

It also seems like Bennett enters the NFL playing with house money. Nobody expects the rookie to compete for the starting job, anyway. But can he carve out a roster spot as a backup over the remainder of the month?

The Rams still have two preseason games remaining on the schedule. They’ll host the Las Vegas Raiders on Saturday, Aug. 19 before closing out the preseason on the road against the Denver Broncos on Saturday, Aug. 26.

Los Angeles opens the NFL’s 2023 regular season against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, Sept. 10.