Stetson Bennett throws first touchdown of NFL career

Saturday night is the preseason opener between the LA Rams and LA Chargers. For LA Rams’ quarterback Stetson Bennett, it’s his very first taste of NFL game action. He came off the bench in Saturday night’s game, after Brett Rypien started the contest. The former Georgia star scored the first touchdown of his very young NFL career against the Chargers. Bennett came in during the second quarter and fired a 11-yard touchdown pass to Puka Nacua, making it the first touchdown pass of his NFL career.

Check it out below.

Stetson Bennett fires it in for a TD on his first drive! @StetsonIV

📺: #LACvsLAR on @NFLNetwork
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/bBFpXewtKp pic.twitter.com/QTM0twMeql

— NFL (@NFL) August 13, 2023

The game is being televised on NFL Network. The touchdown for the Rams cut the Chargers’ lead to 13-7, but then the Chargers drove back down the field and countered with another score before halftime to make it 20-7.

The game is being played in SoFi Stadium.

The Los Angeles Rams signed former Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett to a four-year rookie contract, according to ESPN’s Field Yates.

Bennett won back-to-back national titles with the Bulldogs and was a Heisman finalist last season. The Rams selected him in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft.

However, he’s currently one of the backups behind starter Matthew Stafford. He’s battling Brett Rypien for the second-string position.

In his last two seasons with Georgia, Bennett led the Bulldogs to back-to-back national championship wins and a 29-1 record. In that time span, he threw for 6,990 yards and 56 touchdown passes along with 464 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground.

Along with two national championship rings, Bennett brings a fair share of hardware with him to Los Angeles. Bennett was one of four finalists for the Heisman Trophy this year, was a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, and a semifinalist for the Davey O’Brien Award. He also took home the 2022 Burlsworth Trophy, awarded annually to the country’s outstanding player who began his career as a walk-on.

In back-to-back seasons Bennett took home the Offensive MVP award of the College Football Playoff semifinal and national championship games, but can he bring similar success to the Los Angeles Rams?

Stafford just won a Super Bowl two years ago with Los Angeles and looks like a mentor to Bennett for down the line.

“When I watched this young man play, the movement in the pocket, the field vision, the decision making, the accuracy, he can layer the second level throws, he can put heat on it when he needs to, he can throw the deep ball with touch, he’s accurate in the in the red zone he can get outside the pocket, he’s got underrated run skills,” ESPN’s Louis Riddick said in May.

“And he goes into an offense that is an 11 personnel, 12 personnel, throw the football in the middle field emphasizes play action-type of offense, that’s exactly what he did down there in Georgia. “And the Rams only had one quarterback on the contract, that being Matthew Stafford. I love the pick. I think he was in a perfect place.”

On3’s Nick Kosko also contributed to this article.