Trey Benson

Trey Benson started his career at Oregon before transferring to Florida State in 2022 after an early torn ACL injury. He first broke out onto the scene in his first year as a Seminole in 2022 - 994 rushing yards and nine TDs. He followed up a strong sophomore season with an even better junior year that saw him post a 23% dominator rating with 14 scores and 905 rushing yards.
However, from an advanced rushing metrics perspective, Benson was superior during his first year at FSU in 2022. The 6-foot and 216-pound rusher (updated from 6-1 and 221 from his college website) ranked sixth in the nation in yards after contact per attempt (4.53) with the sixth-most broken tackles forced (79) at an absurd 51% missed tackle rate per rushing attempt.
Benson was selected by the Arizona Cardinals at the top of Round 3 (66th overall). I love the spot for him on an ascending Cardinals offense with James Conner entering the last year of his contract. I fully expect Conner to still be the "bell cow" in 2024 if he is able to maintain his health. Obviously, that's not a given. But in the meantime, Benson has the size/speed profile to flash his explosiveness while working in tandem with Conner.
When I first turned on Benson's tape, I was immediately drawn to his NFL comparison to a slightly smaller Leonard Fournette. For a better size comparison - Fournette was around 240 pounds entering the NFL - his style is like Adrian Peterson's. Again, these are not career-projecting comparisons but rather how stylistically he plays the position.
During the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine, Benson ran a 4.39 40-yard dash at 216 pounds. His vertical jump was 37th percentile, but his broad jump was above the 70th percentile. Overall the sub-4.4 testing is really the main highlight, given it's at the same time at a similar weight to former RBs, Breece Hall and Peterson. Given Jonathon Brooks' current injury status, Benson's strong outing moves him to my fantasy rookie RB1 overall in the class. His 1.52 10-yard split ranked in the 90th percentile.

Benson wins with leg drive and build-up speed with home run ability (4.4 40-yard dash) once he gets into the second level of a defense. Benson's burst is average overall, but he showed more juice immediately after the handoff in 2022 versus 2023. I expect his short area agility numbers to be ok but not amazing and his 10-yard split to be average. Benson has no problem fighting for extra yards after first contact with his powerful legs. He can shed arm tackles with ease as he always keeps his legs churning. He's a more linear runner with the ability to juke defenders in the second level once he's built up some steam. Benson can get in trouble behind the line of scrimmage when he's forced to string multiple moves together to avoid defenders as his burst comes into question. Overall, he has decent vision and follows his blocks well, but Benson can hesitate at times when his gap is plugged, and he's forced to run the quick math of other options around him. Benson is more willing to barrel forward and take what a defense gives him rather than try to bounce a run outside, even when bouncing the run is the best course of action. He's a tough interior runner where his power shows up, but he'll miss cutback opportunities in the second level. Benson's ability to handle a heavy workload should be questioned despite his size. His frame would suggest that he should be able to, but he hasn't had more than 156 carries over the last two seasons and logged only one game in that period with at least 20 carries. Benson is a screen or chip and check-down option only in the passing game. He was tasked with the occasional angle route, but overall, he's a functional but not outstanding receiving threat. Dynasty Outlook: Benson led the third-round charge for running backs as he was the second selection in the round and the second running back selected in the NFL Draft behind only Jonathon Brooks. Benson will ascend to the RB2 spot on many boards for this class. He is my RB3 in this class. Here's why. James Conner should be a free agent after this season, but it's not a lock that the team won't retain his services after this year. Also, even when (if) Conner departs, Benson will still have to deal with the mobility of his quarterback. Could he be the RB2 of this class if Josh Jacobs remains in Green Bay? Yep. That's why I won't push back with anyone who declares him as the clear RB2 of this class. Benson is in the late first-round/early second-round conversation for dynasty rookie drafts.