Stetson Bennett, from walk-on to ‘the guy’ for Georgia

Stetson Bennett is delivering now for Georgia football, a real comeback kid.

Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett earned the nickname “The Mailman” when traveling the Elite 11 camp circuit while wearing a USPS hat.

Well, the Mailman ran a little late in Athens last week, but when he arrived he was doing work for Georgia football. His accuracy was on point, getting 60 percent of his deliveries to their destination. His route took him a total of 240 yards around Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium, even entering the high rent district once.

Stetson Bennett has come a long way from being a walk-on for Georgia back in 2017. Back then Bennett was just the scout team quarterback with big dreams of starting for his childhood team. After playing the role of Baker Mayfield in preparation for Georgia football’s game with Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl that year, some eyes were opened to Bennett’s potential.

However, in 2018, seeing Justin Fields added to the mix at quarterback and Jake Fromm already cemented in as the starter, Bennett decided to transfer out. He went to Jones County Junior College in Ellisville, Mississipi. He was 10-2 as a starter in Junior College, including a Mississippi Bowl win and an MACJC conference championship game appearance.

In his 12 games as the starting quarterback for the Bobcats, he completed 145 passes for 1,840 yards and 16 touchdowns. He also ran for 148 yards and four touchdowns.

The former Georgia walk-on returned to Georgia this past recruiting cycle, this time on scholarship. It was assumed that he would probably be relegated to the scout team offense again, as the Bulldogs had several high-profile quarterbacks on the roster.

Bennett had other ideas.

He worked his butt off all offseason trying to show he belonged and deserved a chance to start.

However, Todd Monken told Bennett that he didn’t see him as a starting quarterback. Instead, he looked to recent quarterback transfer Jamie Newman. It wasn’t just Newman who Bennett was competing against though. Georgia had just recruited four-star quarterback Carson Beck and already had four-star D’Wan Mathis on its roster.

Then it happened, on September 26, 2020, Bennett got his chance. Georgia football was trailing two to seven against Arkansas and Kirby Smart decided to make a change at quarterback. Bennett was thrown into the game without any real preparation but he took the reigns of the offense and led them to a 37-10 win.

Bennett completed 20 of his 29 passing attempts for 211 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed five times for 26 yards.

Stetson Bennett, from an afterthought to the starter.

That performance earned Bennett the start in Georgia football’s game against Auburn. Bennett would take that opportunity and lead Georgia to a 27-6 win. He completed 17 of his 28 passing attempts for 240 yards and one touchdown. After the game, Smart even made it official that Bennett is “the guy.”

Bennett continues to silence his doubters and make the “experts” eat their words. He is Georgia football’s new starting quarterback. The Mailman is here to stay and you can see him deliver for Georgia every Saturday. If you are still doubting him just keep watching. The Mailman delivers, rain or shine, home or on the road, and his teammates absolutely love him.

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Bennett is a great story about perseverance. From two-star walk-on to starting quarterback all because he refused to give up or to listen to his doubters. Bennett’s mental toughness is off the charts. This is one of the many things that makes Bennett such a great leader and why he is the perfect fit to run Georgia football’s offense this season.