Stetson Bennett Keeps Coming Back From The Depths ... Like Kendall Roy In 'Succession'

Confidence, arrogance, bravado and ego can lead to great things in athletics and business, no matter what the roots of those are. They can be based on varying degrees of true ability and significant accomplishment or that of deranged delusionism. Sometimes, it doesn't matter.

Fake it 'til you make it, or pretend you have more than you have while you learn.

Former Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett is not six feet tall and may weigh 190 pounds. He doesn't have a great arm, but he has a pretty good one. He was a 2-star prospect out of Pierce County High in Blackshear, Georgia, in 2017. His only scholarship offer was from Middle Tennessee State.

Georgia QB Stetson Bennett celebrates beating TCU for the national championship last Janruary in Los Angeles, where he will now be in the NFL with the Rams as their fourth round draft pick. (Chris Williams/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

But he has had the arrogance of a 5-star headed to Georgia for multiple Heisman Trophies and national championships.

"I wore my ego like it was armor. You have to," former Washington Redskins Super Bowl XVII champion quarterback/ESPN announcer Joe Theismann once said. Worked for him, even though he was barely six feet and 192 pounds as a fourth round pick by Miami in 1971 out of Notre Dame. He was 20-3-2 as the Irish starter and also returned punts.

After playing three years as one of the Canadian Football League's top quarterbacks, the then-Redskins traded a first-round pick for his rights. He returned punts and waited four seasons before becoming Washington's starting quarterback. Theismann played 12 seasons in the NFL and took his team to two Super Bowls.

Cool As Stetson Bennett

Bennett, somewhat like Theismann, seems like he really thinks he's something. He clearly thinks he is the coolest. He also looks and often carries himself like a spoiled, rich kid of entitlement, even though he's not. He is of middle class upbringing. He has enjoyed the wine, song and smoke of fame that being the starting quarterback on back-to-back national championship teams at Georgia has brought.

The Los Angeles Rams took Bennett in the fourth round of the NFL Draft on Saturday.

After a strange arrest on public intoxication charges at 7:10 a.m. in Dallas on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023, knocking on wrong doors looking for his friend's place, Bennett was thought to have bounced himself from the NFL Draft. On that Sunday, he could have been arriving in Mobile, Alabama, for the Senior Bowl with the other players for practices, interviews and the game the following Saturday.

"I heard the news from Kirby Smart that morning," Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy told OutKick last week. "I thought it was a bad decision for him not to come here."

Nagy tried to get Bennett to the NFL Draft Fest that is the Senior Bowl, but Bennett declined after milking the invite. He acted as if he was a first round projection like Bryce Young or C.J. Stroud. Most of the elite picks do not go to the Senior Bowl because they don't need to.

Stetson Bennett's Draft Status Apparently Not Hurt Anyway

Bennett needed to, or so most thought. In retrospect, Bennett was right. He didn't need to be there for his draft status, though it would have kept him off the street at 7 a.m. that Sunday. Had Bennett had a wonderful week with the NFL brass and coaches at the Senior Bowl and played like he did in big games at Georgia, he likely still wouldn't have been drafted much higher than he was.

As it is, Bennett still went earlier in the draft than five quarterbacks who did play in the Senior Bowl. Those were fifth round pick Clayton Tune of Houston by Arizona, fifth round pick Jaren Hall of BYU by Minnesota, seventh round pick Max Duggan of TCU by the Los Angeles Chargers. Malik Cunningham of Louisville and Tyson Bagent of Division II Shepherd also played in the Senior Bowl, but they were not drafted. Cunningham is headed to New England as a free agent, and Bagent is a Chicago Bears free agent.

So, Stetson wins again.

Kirby Smart Said Bennett May Get Drafted

Georgia coach Kirby Smart was saying last week that he was fielding calls from several teams interested in picking his prodigal son, but few listened. Bennett remained as a free agent projection in many circles as late as Saturday.

Now, Bennett is reunited with another former Georgia quarterback, Matthew Stafford, in L.A., which may not be the best city for supposedly the next Ken Stabler off the field. Maybe Stafford, 35, can show Bennett, 25, the way ... home at a decent hour.

Stafford led the Rams to the Super Bowl title in the 2021 season, but he missed much of last season with concussions. He may not be playing much longer. And the Rams only have two quarterbacks on their roster at the moment. Something tells me, Bennett will get a chance.

"I think he's a backup," NFL Draft expert Mike Detillier of WWL Radio in New Orleans said. "But, man he's smart. He's accurate. He knows where to go with the football."

National Championships Were Stetson Bennett's Business

As wrong as the draft experts are nearly every year about quarterbacks, there is no telling which of the quarterbacks picked in this draft will bust or succeed. Yes, Bryce Young could bust. He is undersized on a bad team with a weak offensive line. He will soon realize he is not at Alabama anymore. And, yes, Bennett could end up succeeding again eventually.

Don't bet against Bennett. People have since he was at Blackshear. He walked on at Georgia in 2017. He moved on to Jones County Junior College for the 2018 season in Ellisville, Mississippi, which is a long way from L.A. He was about to sign with Louisiana-Lafayette before the 2019 season, but Smart took a chance on him. Bennett backed up Jake Fromm in 2019 and was supposed to back up D'Wan Mathis in 2020. But he replaced Mathis and shared time with USC transfer J.T. Daniels. Daniels was expected by most to take the job in 2021, but he got hurt.

And the rest is history. Bennett helped lead Georgia to its first national championship since 1980 in 2021, then stayed to do it again this past season.

Bennett just keeps getting back up like want-to-be business maverick Kendall Roy like his father before him in "Succession." Boston actor Jeremy Strong plays Roy and is built similar to Bennett at 5-11 and 160 pounds. The Roy character is somewhat of a spoiled rich kid with an air of entitlement who think he's cool. He's also arrogant and confident with much bravado from who knows where? Because he has been in and out of drug addiction centers and therapy.

Succession's Kendall Roy As Stetson Bennett

And his armor is working. Kendall Roy keeps winning. He was apparently headed to jail in the season two finale his role in a cruiseline corruption that led to deaths. But his dad made the mistake of telling him he lacked the killer instinct for business. And Kendall showed him. Instead of turning himself in at a press conference, he turned on his dad.

Will Kendall Roy become the starter in "Succession?" (Credit: Getty Images)

The fourth and final season of "Succession" is nearing its conclusion now, and Kendall remains on top. He just launched a new business in magical Steve Jobs fashion on Sunday night when most, including those closest to him like his sister and brother, saw him falling on his face.

"On dress rehearsal night, it can feel like it's going to be terrible," Succession executive producer and creater Jesse Armstrong said after the show Sunday night. "But if you have a certain kind of confidence (no matter where it comes from), you can win."

He was not talking about Bennett, but he could have been.

Funny, sister Shiv Roy was thought to be the one to replace patriarch and business conglomerate magnate Logan Roy, not unlike D'Wan Mathis was supposed to be Georgia's starting quarterback in 2020. Didn't happen. Then brother Roman Roy was supposed to be the guy after Logan, much like JT Daniels as Georgia QB in 2021. Didn't happen.

But Stetson Roy remains.

Enjoy L.A., Stetson. Then get ready.

Stetson Bennett Has Yet Another Challenge

"It's a fine line for Stetson," Nagy said. "Because what made Stetson Bennett the Stetson Bennett on the college level was that chip on his shoulder. He used that for fuel. That's what made him a great player. But he's going to have to, at some point, lose that chip. He needs to flip the switch from being the Big Man On Campus in Athens."

Or does he? He may just need to hire a new agent in Hollywood and expand his empire.

"I made a joke internally that, 'Boy, he's got a bad PR agent,'" Rams general manager Les Snead said Saturday. "Because his image is not maybe being a talented player. It was a little false. I thought people said he was just a manage-the-game-type quarterback."

That was the 2021 Stetson, who completed 185 of 287 passes for 2,862 yards and 29 touchdowns for a 176.7 efficiency rating, good for No. 4 in the nation - three spots ahead of Bryce Young. The 2022 Stetson let go. He completed 310 of 454 passes for 4,127 yards - 74 more passes and 799 more yards than Young - and 27 touchdowns. Bennett also rushed for 464 net yards in 2021 and '22.

"What you see is, 'Whoa, wait a minute. Look at that guy move! Look at him buy some time. Look at him anticipate some throws,'" Sneak gushed on. "You come away thinking he was a weapon for Georgia."

Kendall may be more like his successful dad than his dad ever thought.

And Stetson may one day be better and last longer in the NFL than anyone thinks.