By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer

Bennett Career Profile

For most free agents the pomp and circumstance of a free agent visit doesn’t carry much weight. By the time they arrive in any NFL city, they have already been through numerous recruiting processes whether it be in college or another trip in the NFL.

But when Drew Bennett was greeted by the Rams contingent and a limousine especially for him at
Lambert International Airport on Friday, he was a bit overwhelmed.

After a day of riding around the in the limousine, dinner at Morton’s Steakhouse, productive
and exciting discussions with the St. Louis coaching staff and all of the bells and whistles that go with being a highly-sought free agent, Bennett was ready to be a Ram.

So it was that Bennett put pen to paper Saturday, signing a six-year deal believed to be worth about $30 million to become the team’s third – and tallest – receiver.

“They were very interested and very willing to get something done to get me in here quick,” Bennett said. “I like what they have going on as far as an offense, as far as a team, as far as a corps of guys. It just happened to be a perfect fit. I got up here, met with the coaches and was very impressed… I think this is a really good spot for me.”

With receivers Shaun McDonald and Kevin Curtis on the free agent market and apparently on their way out of town, the Rams jumped at the chance to acquire the player many deemed the best free agent receiver on the market.

After seven seasons in Tennessee, Bennett learned the many nuances of each of the three receiver
positions.Bennett should immediately contribute as the team’s No. 3 receiver behind starters Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt. And while Bennett doesn’t have the deep speed of Curtis, he brings an element of size that the offense has been lacking at wide out.

At 6’5, 206 pounds, Bennett is the type of big target that coach Scott Linehan and offensive
coordinator Greg Olson love to use in the red zone. Although the Rams weren’t desperate for a big wideout, Olson said “He gives us something we don’t have in terms of his size,” Olson said. “You can’t coach that kind of size. He gives us a different dimension. We like it. I think Isaac has been very productive at his body type and Torry is kind of in between and now we have this big guy that should help us down in the red zone.

"We didn’t feel like that was a real big weakness, but anytime you get a big 6’4 guy, he gives you another weapon down there and big type of play maker.”

Bennett is comfortable in each of the three receiver positions, giving him the type of versatility that
will allow him to play in the slot in three receiver packages or relieve Holt and Bruce should they need a rest or suffer an injury.

Known for his ability to go up and get jump balls, Bennett gives the Rams the type of size that Holt and Bruce don’t have and should work well in the slot.

Not to say, of course, that Bennett isn’t fast. He has what Linehan and Olson call “deceptive”
speed and has the ability to catch the deep ball on a consistent basis.

Most NFL pundits had Bennett ranked as one of the top two or three available receivers on the
market. Bennett was clearly the best of the “big” receivers.

It comes as a bit of a surprise that Bennett would choose to land in St. Louis considering he might have had options elsewhere as the go-to receiver, but none of that mattered to him.

Bennett said he chose St. Louis because he wanted to be a part of something bigger than any
individual statistics.

“Obviously I want to be involved but I don’t need to catch 100 balls, I don’t need to catch a touchdown every game,” Bennett said. “I want to be a part of something, I want to be involved, I want to be successful, but I want to win. It’s one of those things when teams are good when nobody cares who gets the credit. As long as I am part of the offense and integrated in, and no matter what my role is I will be satisfied.”

Indeed, Bennett will have a chance to do just that as the Rams continue to build an impressive
cadre of offensive talent and, arguably, the most imposing trio of receivers of any team in the league.

For his career, Bennett has 273 catches for 4,033 yards and 25 touchdowns in seven seasons. His best season came in 2004 when he posted 80 catches for 1,247 yards and 11 touchdowns. He was slowed in 2005 by a dislocated thumb causing him to miss three games and he missed four games in 2003 because of a left calf injury. Otherwise, Bennett has proved durable and tough and has earned a reputation as a solid down field blocker.

Meanwhile, Curtis paid a free agent visit to Minnesota on Friday and is on his way to Detroit
for a visit with the Lions today. It didn’t take long for the Rams to realize that Curtis would probably be headed somewhere else. With that in mind, they made Bennett one of their top priorities.

Of course, Bennett probably could have made more visits and done his best to cash in, but he was taken in by the way Olson and Linehan planned to integrate him into the offense and the way the team presented itself on his visit to St. Louis.

As an unrecruited high school quarterback at Miramonte High in the San Francisco East Bay suburb of Orinda, Calif., Bennett never went on any fancy recruiting trips to any big name schools. He shunned an opportunity to attend Princeton and walked on at UCLA.

There, he bounced back and forth from quarterback to receiver before settling on receiver as
a senior. And settle might be generous considering he ended his senior year with six catches for 58 yards.

Still, Bennett realized his best chance for success at the next level meant moving to receiver permanently. He worked out at UCLA’s Pro Day as a receiver and one scout, Tennessee’s Cole Proctor, too a liking to him.

Bennett was undrafted out of UCLA, but caught on with the Titans; earned playing time in the
slot after injuries ahead of him and the rest is history.

“As far as going somewhere and having people set things up for you, this is the first time,” Bennett
said. “I never went on a recruitment trip, I never went and visited teams before I got signed as an
undrafted free agent so this is my first tour of seeing what’s out there and meeting teams and getting pampered a little bit.”

And while a little pampering is nice, it wouldn’t have meant much to Bennett if the rest of the picture
didn’t come clear. Bennett could easily have gone to a non-contender, been the top receiver and caught 100 balls. But he preferred the idea of working closely with Holt, Bruce, Steven Jackson and Marc Bulger.

“That was definitely on my mind, especially waiting that long to get to free agency,” Bennett said. “But it was hard to pass up the situation. I just think it was such a good fit when I got here and the coaches were that interested in me. I felt that good around the coaches. I know there are two very prominent receivers here, but there are plenty of balls to go around. There’s plenty of offense. I don’t think there’s a better guy to play with than Marc Bulger. I think there’s a lot to be said for the offense here and I think I’ll be successful here.”