7 Rams must defy the odds and win a 2024 roster spot, even Stetson Bennett?

I: QB Stetson Bennett

While I have been a huge lobbyist for the Rams to give young backup quarterback a second chance, even I must admit that stepping away from football for a season has inadvertently attracted the spotlight upon the feisty hurler. To say it another way, Stetson Bennett is not just at center stage, but he is under the microscope this training camp and through at least the preseason.

Detractors will be examining every move Bennett makes for signs and evidence to justify the team expelling him from the roster. But supporters will be gleaning through the same moment by moment actions to seek shreds of evidence to find hope and optimism. It's the clash of two very diametrically opposed viewpoints.

Standing 5-foot-11 and tipping the scales at 190 pounds, you might think that Bennett is at risk of injury with almost every snap of the football. But Bennett has been working out and putting on more muscular armor in the offseason. How do we know? Seeing is believing.

Of course, he is not the Hulk by any means. He is not even Ant Man. But he has proven that he has his mind and body focused on football in 2024, and that is a very positive step in the right direction. Now. layer the muscular new physique over the refreshed mindset that is back with a vengeance and you have a very dangerous and motivated second year player who is running under-the-radar.

That is not to say that he has smooth sailing ahead. He has to start over, prove to himself, his teammates, and to his coaches that he can do the job required at his position. He won't have a great hand to do it with either. As we know, the Rams sit starters in preseason games. That means that even as he hopes to impress coaches in the preseason, he will be competing with the junior varsity squad. That did not work out very well for him in 2023. But I believe things will turn out differently this year.

This is his second training camp, and Bennett knows what he is in for this season. He simply has to stay focused, train hard, and put up his best effort as often and as long as he can.

Seven players face fierce competition in training camp this year. Not just for playing time, but for a spot on the team's roster. With the team deeper with quality players than i can remember in many years, players are not simply competing against teammates at the same position, but against players at other positions for those final spots on the roster.

Stay tuned. And thanks for reading.