ESPN's Mel Kiper reveals best NFL comp for Stetson Bennett, what round he'll be drafted

What to make of former Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett as an NFL quarterback prospect is one of the most fascinating NFL Draft Rohschach tests in a while. ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper knows teams will be torn on the two-time national champion signal caller, but ultimately landed at a happy medium when discussing Bennett as a pro prospect.

His college career is storied and he improved seemingly with every game he played. But Bennett is physically diminutive and doesn’t have the elite-prospect pedigree of some of the other quarterbacks in this class.

“Interesting guy,” Kiper said. “Nobody can really give you any answer on Stetson Bennett other than ‘Bryce Young is going to go in the Top 5, where’s Stetson Bennett going to fall?’ This guy wins games, he’s a gutty competitor. He had guys leaving that program after last year, this year no fall back. He didn’t have all the pieces they had back in 2021 this season. Yet he still leads his team to a national title.”

Kiper shared the natural comparison to Drew Brees — an accurate, scheme-adept six-foot-tall pocket passer — but doesn’t think that’s one-for-one.

Bennett is a better and more willing runner than Brees was, for one, and his ability on the whiteboard or in the huddle was more than good enough for Georgia — but how he performs for NFL teams in interviews will be informative, too.

He ultimately ended up putting Bennett in with another quarterback from the 2023 NFL Draft class, Fresno State’s Jake Haener, as the two guys a step below the top grouping of quarterbacks.

“He’ll draw comparisons to Drew Brees — throw that out, doesn’t mean anything. Because we’re always going to look at that six foot quarterback and say ‘If he’s accurate, he’s Drew Brees,'” Kiper said. “So for me, Jake Haener, Stetson Bennett are in that next tier of quarterbacks.”

But for all the vacillating between his record as a starter and proven track record versus his underwhelming physical profile, Kiper thinks the answer for where Bennett gets picked is ultimately the middle rounds.

“Stetson Bennett to me will probably end up being about a third-round draft choice,” Kiper said.