LOS ANGELES — It was a big day around the National Football League on Tuesday -- final cuts were made and each team prepared its final 53-man roster heading into the regular season.
For players on the bubble coming into training camp like former Georgia Bulldog and two-time national champion quarterback Stetson Bennett, the decision on whether he would get a roster spot was a big question.
But it was all smiles for Bennett on Tuesday when he learned that he made the final roster out of training camp and preseason and will be starter Matthew Stafford's backup, making it a Bulldog reunion behind center for the Rams.
It was roughly three weeks ago that Rams head coach Sean McVay had positive remarks to say about Bennett when asked about the state of the quarterback position with his team.
"Here's what I will say is, (I'm) super impressed with obviously Matthew in the offseason," McVay said at the time. "I thought Stetson made tremendous growth. I thought Jimmy Garoppolo looked like the guy that I've seen playing at a really high level, and that gives me confidence."
It's been a long year for Stetson Bennett. The former Bulldogs signal-caller had a strenuous start to his Los Angeles Rams career -- a start that saw him step away from football for an entire year for reasons that he later insinuated were mental health battles that required him leaving the game of football for some time.
The Rams also signed veteran QB Jimmy Garropolo in the offseason, but he is set to serve a two-game suspension for violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing drugs.
During the preseason, Bennett went 41-69 (59.4%) with 437 yards, two touchdowns and five interceptions. Four of those turnovers, however, came in one game. Bennett, known for making plays with his legs in college, only gained four rushing yards on four attempts.
Bennett led a game-winning touchdown drive during that game where he threw four interceptions, throwing a side-arm game-winning score on the run to Miller Forristall with eight seconds left on fourth-and-goal.
