It’s simple, Stetson Bennett has a title ring and it’s time to accept it

The amount of hate that Georgia football quarterback Stetson Bennett receives even after helping the Dawgs win a national championship is disgusting.

Guess what? Bennett has a national championship ring. No one can take that away from him, and while most win a ring, they become accepted — not Bennett. He still doesn’t get the credit or attention he deserves.

There are Georgia fans who still cannot accept Bennett as the quarterback. They are the ones who feel like someone better is on the team, and head coach Kirby Smart is just not capable of choosing the right guy.

It’s not just that group of fans, but other fan bases and even some media people who still refuse to give him credit. That defense was a significant part of Georgia’s success in 2021, but Bennett led the offense to glory, and they scored most of the points.

Georgia football quarterback Stetson Bennett is a winner, and everyone needs to accept it.

This past week, Twitter went wild about a 247Sports graphic of the top returning quarterbacks, and Bennett wasn’t on that list. 

How does someone not include the guy who just won a national championship? Alabama’s Bryce Young is on this list, and he should be because he is genuinely one of the best returning quarterbacks.

Ohio State’s CJ Stroud and USC’s Caleb Williams — those two make sense, but let’s keep going down the list.

Wake Forests’ Sam Hartman is a stud — change our mind, but it won’t work. That kid has moxy and the right attitude. Miami’s Tyler Van Dyke — Who? Exactly similar numbers to Bennett but plays on the right team.

Spencer Rattler is on the list. He lost his job to now Southern Cal quarterback Caleb Williams, so the stuff we saw out of Rattler told us what? Now he is at South Carolina, where he will likely have more success, but what about his performance or the way Rattler acted said he was a top returning quarterback?

This placement is interesting because, sure, he was one of the top quarterbacks out of high school, but he quickly proved a little competition makes him uncomfortable.

The disrespect for Bennett is loud.

Trevor Lawrence, Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa — this would never happen to them.

The funniest part is that 247Sports also predicted Georgia would be one of the four playoff teams in 2022. So how do you predict a team will make the playoffs, but their quarterback isn’t one of the top ones returning?

https://twitter.com/247Sports/status/1510995007389454342?s=20&t=F3zX7UYZ1sgUz4bPTYWC-w

Bennett helped get Georgia to the playoffs in 2021. Football is a team sport, and he didn’t do it alone, but he was one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the SEC, along with Hendon Hooker from Tennessee and KJ Jefferson from Arkansas — yet none of them made this list.

Last year, Bennett had the No.2 quarterback rating in the SEC behind Hooker at 176.69. Hooker had a 182.02 QBR and Jefferson was No. 4 on that list with a 164.65. Young was No.3 with a 167.52.

Does the ESPN FPI ranking decide who the top returning quarterbacks are? It doesn’t, but the amount of disrespect feels the same with this prediction.

Bennett led the SEC in yards per pass attempt at 9.97 yards and completed 64.46% of his passes. He threw for 2,862 passing yards, 29 touchdowns and just seven interceptions on the season — the same amount as Young.

On the ground, Bennett had 56 rushes for 259 yards and one score. He averaged 4.6 yards a touch, but a lot of his runs resulted in key first downs in situations that Georgia needed it. Bennett is versatile and his vision gets better the longer he plays.

When you see these kinds of predictions, obviously, seeing the five stars live up to their potential is what everyone wants to see, but Bennett is an outlier in all the right ways.

He has moxy like Hartman, Gabriel, and the other quarterbacks on that list. Bennett had a great season that most quarterbacks would take, but because he won the national championship — it isn’t good enough.

The former walk-on should be praised and get the same hype as these other guys. Why doesn’t he? Is it truly because Bennett was a former walk-on? Is it his height? The number of people who still think he isn’t good enough shows just how much stars weigh in college football.

Don’t get me wrong, I live for recruiting rankings and the whole process of signing new kids, but his story is what college football is all about and why it’s loved by so many.

No quarterback is perfect, and if they are, it’s a special thing. However, Bennett is a stud. He works hard and still tries to impress people that don’t matter.

Bennett doesn’t need to impress anyone but his coaches and teammates. Those guys are the ones who know him the best, know what he is capable of, and we saw that last year during the championship run.

Georgia football players love Bennett and trusted him to take the Dawgs all the way. He did and beat out of a 5-star in the process. JT Daniels was on all these hype lists last year, was a Heisman Trophy hopeful, and yet Bennett won the title while Daniels transferred again.

Why not Bennett? Even the likes of Paul Finebaum and a few other analysts don’t think he is good enough. Why? What more does this young man have to do to prove worthy?

Nothing because Bennett has done more than most college football quarterbacks have. He has a national championship ring. Sure Young has one, too, but Mac Jones was the quarterback who made it happen. Maybe he will win one himself, but who knows.

Bennett helped end a 41-year drought, but some of this fanbase still refuses to give him credit. He was a hero until Bennett announced he would come back one more year — then it went right back to what it was before he won.

The bottom line is that Bennett made college football experts look silly last year when he proved them wrong each week. He should be even more determined to do the same in 2022 because that underdog mentality led him to success.

Even with a ring, he isn’t good enough, but that doubt from people is only fueling the fire. Bennett has the moxy that quarterbacks dream of having. Moxy isn’t coachable — the guy either has it, or he doesn’t, and Bennett does.

Georgia fans who cannot accept him as their quarterback need to turn in their national championship gear, their Dawg card, and try again in 2023. If they can’t accept Bennett after winning it all, then what will actually be good enough for them?

So to all of the haters out there, Bennett has a ring, and your quarterback doesn’t. Regardless of what gets said about him — it doesn’t matter. He will always have a championship behind his name.

Even some of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of this game don’t have a national championship under their belt, but Bennett does, and it’s time to put respect on his name.

It doesn’t matter what anyone else says — Bennett is QB1 for the Dawgs, and that is that.

Get on the bus or stay at home. Georgia football has a winning quarterback that is good enough to lead the Dawgs in 2022 and put them in contention, at least for an SEC title.