Greg McElroy comes to the defense of Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett

On3 imageby:Chandler Vessels08/01/22

ChandlerVessels

Greg McElroy believes quarterback Stetson Bennett deserves more credit from the Georgia fanbase. After leading the Bulldogs to a national championship this past season, Bennett should have legend status in Athens.

However, McElroy noted while calling Georgia’s spring game that fans were quick to turn on Bennett when Carson Beck started performing well. In a recent interview, the ESPN analyst came to the quarterback’s defense.

“Everyone wanted to blame Stetson Bennett for their loss in the SEC Championship last year when Alabama scored 42 points,” McElroy said. “Unless Stetson Bennett was also playing corner covering Jameson Williams, I don’t know how you could blame him for that performance. Now, he didn’t play well. He forced a couple picks. One pick wasn’t his fault. But either way, as the quarterback at a high-profile school you’re always gonna get way too much credit and way too much blame. The only thing that’s different about Stetson Bennett is he never actually gets the credit. I don’t think it’s fair.

“He is extremely underrated, and if you look at what he did in the fourth quarter of the national championship game, he should be forever beloved by Bulldog Nation. I called the spring game. The second Carson Beck threw a touchdown pass, I saw people lighting up my Twitter feed saying ‘There’s MY quarterback. Stetson Bennett no longer. I want Carson Beck.’ Y’all, it’s a spring game. He’s going against the twos. What are we doing? I think Stetson Bennett is going to get unfairly criticized regardless of how he does.”

Bennett’s journey from walk-on to national title-winning quarterback has been well-chronicled, and he’s trying to build on an impressive 2021 season. He threw for 2,862 yards on 64.5% passing and 29 touchdowns to cement himself as Georgia’s starter this year.

Bennett opted to return for one last go-round with the Bulldogs to try and defend that title, and he got quite the vote of confidence from Georgia coach Kirby Smart at SEC media days, as well.

“Stetson is one of the least respected good players there is in this country,” Smart said, via DawgsHQ’s Palmer Thombs. “Guess what, we get to see it every day. The kid is a tremendous athlete, he’s got good arm strength. People keep doubting him, and that’s fine with me.”

Stetson Bennett will hope to prove Greg McElroy right and the rest of his doubters wrong when Georgia kicks off the 2022 season on Sept. 3 against Oregon.