Fantasy Upside
Trey Benson has a major knee injury on his record (MCL), but that was all the way back in 2020. In his two seasons at Florida State, the Seminole accrued 2,100+ total yards on the backs of 6.12 yards per carry and 4.02 yards created after contact. He looked fantastic at the NFL Combine, highlighted by his 4.39 40 at 219 pounds, and offers the Cardinals far more upside than the rotation of back-ups they've been using over the last few seasons. A full-time role is out of the question with James Conner upright, but the veteran has a history of nagging injuries, which could for Benson onto the field to show off his explosiveness.
Fantasy Downside
College running backs who demand a high target share are few and far between, but Benson only accrued 32 receptions over his two years with Florida State, while his YPC dropped nearly a full yard from '22-to-'23. While this should be more of a split backfield than we've grown accustomed to since Conner came to Arizona, it's worth mentioning that he had the 13th-highest percentage of his team's backfield touches last season. If Conner is healthy, the rookie could be limited to ~ 25-30% of the RB touches.
2024 Bottom Line
Trey Benson landed in an ascending offense, which is reason for optimism, but on paper, his role as a backup is mostly solidified. James Conner has been one of the most efficient rushers in the league despite his age and is very unlikely to lose his job unless he misses an extended period of time. Even with his poor injury luck, Conner has still played in at least 13 games in each of the last four seasons. The rookie is a fantastic arbitrage play with Conner heading into his Age 29 campaign, but don't be surprised if Benson has trouble seeing the field through the early portions of the season.
