Ben Bryant (born September 17, 1999) is an American professional football quarterback. He played college football for the Cincinnati Bearcats, Eastern Michigan Eagles, and Northwestern Wildcats.
Early life Bryant grew up in La Grange, Illinois, and attended high school at Lyons Township High School. He was rated a three-star recruit and initially committed to play college football for the Wisconsin Badgers. His scholarship offer was eventually pulled, reportedly after tweeting about receiving an offer from another school. Bryant ultimately signed a letter of intent to play at Cincinnati.
College career
Cincinnati (First stint) Bryant played in one game before redshirting his true freshman season at Cincinnati. He spent his redshirt freshman season primarily as the backup to starter Desmond Ridder but started the Bearcats' final regular season game against Memphis after Ridder suffered an injury. Bryant finished the season with 29 completions on 51 pass attempts for 388 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions in seven games played. He also spent the 2020 season as Ridder's backup and passed for 90 yards and one touchdown while rushing for 65 yards and one touchdown.
Eastern Michigan Following the end of the 2020 season, Bryant transferred to Eastern Michigan. He completed 68.4% of his passes for 3,121 yards with 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions. At the end of the season Bryant re-entered the NCAA transfer portal.
Cincinnati (Second stint) Bryant opted to return to Cincinnati and was eligible to play immediately as a graduate transfer. He was named the starter for the Bearcats' season opener against Arkansas. Bryant started 11 games and passed for 2,732 yards with 21 touchdowns and seven interceptions before suffering a season-ending foot injury. After the Bearcats' 2023 spring practices, he entered the transfer portal for a third time.
Northwestern On May 5, 2023, Bryant announced his intention to transfer to Northwestern. With the Wildcats, he started 9 games and won 6 of them. In a 41-13 loss vs Penn State, he suffered a right shoulder injury that sat him out for 4 games. In his first game back from injury, Northwestern upset Wisconsin 24-10.
Statistics Year Team Games Passing Rushing GP GS Record Cmp Att Pct Yds Avg TD Int Rtg Att Yds Avg TD 2018 Cincinnati 1 0 0−0 6 8 75.0 75 9.4 0 1 128.8 2 -4 -2.0 0 2019 Cincinnati 5 1 0−1 29 51 56.9 388 7.6 1 2 119.4 22 35 1.6 1 2020 Cincinnati 5 0 0−0 11 14 78.6 90 6.4 1 0 156.1 6 65 10.8 1 2021 Eastern Michigan 13 11 6−5 279 408 68.4 3,121 7.6 14 7 140.5 87 -43 -0.5 2 2022 Cincinnati 11 11 9−2 213 348 61.2 2,732 7.9 21 7 143.0 47 -118 -2.5 0 2023 Northwestern 9 9 6-3 173 277 62.5 1,807 6.5 13 6 128.4 60 -33 -0.6 4Career 44 32 21−11 711 1106 64.3 8,212 7.4 50 23 137.4 224 -98 -0.4 8
Professional career
Bryant went unselected in the 2024 NFL draft. On July 25, 2024, Bryant signed with the New York Jets. He was waived two days later, after the team signed Adrian Martinez.
References
External links Eastern Michigan Eagles bio Cincinnati Bearcats bio Northwestern Wildcats bio