Stetson Bennett Adds Unique Wrinkle To Help Los Angeles Rams Defense Prepare for 2024

Monday was the Los Angeles Rams first padded practice of training camp and it was also a day heavy on run game installation. Thus, it was also a planned rest day for Matthew Stafford . This meant that Stetson Bennett was featured substantially more than the other days in 11-on-11 sessions.

After the day’s practice, head coach, Sean McVay noted the benefit of Bennett’s ability to make plays with his legs as an asset to prepare the Rams defense for when they face highly mobile quarterbacks this season.

Stetson Bennett Preps Defense For Highly Mobile Quarterbacks

“What you do see from Stetson is the athleticism, the ability. If we lose contain up front, he can break it and make plays with his legs,” McVay said, “I think that’s good for whether it’s our first group or our second group to understand because there’s going to be some guys like that on the schedule that we can’t get lulled to sleep and just thinking they’re always going to be in that spot if we lose the integrity of our rush lanes.”

This isn’t a new concept for the Rams. In previous years they valued John Wolford and Bryce Perkins for this same ability. Carson Wentz also offered this ability last season.

During Monday’s padded practice, there were several occasions when the defense was able to hold up in coverage long enough to force Bennett out of the pocket. He picked up two first downs in these sessions. (Reminder: They limit tackling to ‘thud’ hitting — Making contact, but not taking the player to the ground.)

The Rams will face some of the top rushing quarterbacks in the league in 2024. They will see Kyler Murray twice, Josh Allen , Caleb Williams , Jordan Love , and Jalen Hurts . They will also go against the sometimes New Orleans Saints quarterback, Taysom Hill . His 26 rushing first downs were tied for seventh most with Patrick Mahomes . The Rams may also face Sam Howell with the Seattle Seahawks. He ran for the 11th most first downs among quarterbacks. The Rams were reportedly interested in trading for Howell this offseason.

Last season the Rams allowed quarterbacks to rush for 40 yards or more on five occasions, including 70+ yard performances from Jalen Hurts and Lamar Jackson

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