Following James Conner’s season-ending ankle injury, Trey Benson has been thrust into the fantasy football spotlight. The sophomore RB drips in potential and upside, but is quite unproven at the NFL Level.
Benson will be making the first start of his NFL career tonight vs. the Seahawks on Thursday Night Football. Should he also be starting in your Week 4 Fantasy Football lineups? Let’s dive in.
Trey Benson Prospect Profile: Freakish Athleticism
Entering last season, Trey Benson was largely considered a Top-Two RB in an underwhelming 2024 Running Back Class.
Despite standing a sturdy 6’0″ and 216 pounds, Benson never got the workhorse treatment at Florida State. He was consistently trapped in three-headed nightmare committees, but Benson was still able to produce 1100+ yards and 9+ TDs in back-to-back seasons. During his senior year, Benson totaled an impressive 15 TDs while ripping 906 rushing yards on 156 carries (5.8 YPC) and 227 receiving yards on 20 receptions (17.5 YPR).
While the final “counting stats” aren’t eye-popping, Benson did have some elite efficiency. Entering 2024, Benson had posted the best season ever by missed tackles forced per touch by a Power-5 RB (per Scott Barrett) — as a sophomore no less:
Unsurprisingly, Benson also ranked Top-5 in yards after contact per attempt as well.
Benson was elite with the ball in his hands, he simply rarely got the rock. He eclipsed 20 touches in a game just once in his college career, which is a concern for an RB being thrust into a featured role now. Normally, it’s rare for a back to go from a college committee guy into a high-volume workhorse. Why Benson failed to earn more volume despite being hyper-efficient is a question for a questionable FSU coaching staff.
Still, Benson’s speed and athleticism are also noteworthy. Despite his large size, Benson blazed a 4.39 forty (99th percentile adjusted speed score). At the time, Benson ranked 41st of 1765 RBs in overall Relative Athletic Score (RAS):
As a prospect, Benson drips in upside, and there seems to be plenty of “meat on the bone” here for Benson’s 2025 fantasy football upside.
Trey Benson’s Role with the Cardinals: Will he be a Bellcow RB?
The Cardinals present an intriguing environment for Benson. For back-to-back years, James Conner was entrusted with true bellcow RB duties by this Arizona staff — a role Benson was never afforded in college.
Through three weeks, the Cardinals rank 13th in Team RB Expected Fantasy Points (FantasyPoints), which measures both the amount and quality of RB Volume:
With Conner removed, Benson seems destined to inherit the majority of this 22.3 xFP role.
The team has expressed supreme confidence in Benson’s ability to step right in:
“I’m fully confident in Trey, I really am,” HC Jonathan Gannon said, via Tyler Drake of ArizonaSports.com. “I think the more he plays, the more comfortable you see him getting and the better he’s going to be.” Quarterback Kyler Murray also said the team has “ultimate confidence” in Benson.
That certainly was the case once Conner left. Per Dwain McFarland‘s “Week 4 Utilization Report,” Benson handled 87% of the snaps, 71% of the rushing attempts, and posted a 50% route participation following Conner’s injury. That was truly elite usage.
Benson had already taken over the two-minute offense in Week 2 while leading the team RBs with 55% route participation. His 11% target share thus far was better than Conner.
Don’t forget, Arizona hyped Benson up all preseason, too. Gannon claimed they had “two starting backs” entering the season, noting he expected Benson to “light it up” based on his camp play:
“If (Trey) takes the necessary jump from Year 1 to Year 2, I think we have two starting backs,” Gannon said. “That’s how I view those guys. You see certain teams out there with two ‘1s,’ I would say, and I think we should have two ‘1s’ next year.”
Conner himself was hyping up Benson this preseason. He said the team “can’t shy away” from using both RBs and that Benson was “going to play a lot this season.” When asked why he was good with a co-RB1, Conner replied: “Just with the talent that he has and what he is capable of doing….It’s not always like that but in this situation it is.”
Benson also claimed to have added 7 pounds, but gained more explosiveness:
Thus far, Benson has been impressive. He’s racked up 170 total yards on just 29 touches through three games. He’s averaging a healthy 6.0 YPC, ripping 21 attempts for 125 yards, while also hauling in 8-of-11 targets.
The advanced metrics are kind, too. Benson ranks 13th in yards after contact (4.1) and eighth in runs of 10-plus yards (14%) for backs with at least 20 attempts. It’s a small sample size, but that’s all we’ve got through three weeks.
If nothing else, Benson is highly motivated to do right by his mentor in Conner:
Yes, Emari Demercado will likely mix in some on pass downs. Perhaps wBam Knight and Michael Carter will sprinkle in as RB3s.
Yet, Benson had already established himself as the clear lead pass-catching RB prior to Conner’s injury. Once Conner departed, he was a true every-down RB. There’s a real shot Benson emerges with a more valuable season-long role than even Conner had.
I expect roughly 65-70% of the snaps, 70% of the carries, and 40-50% of the routes moving forward, putting Benson in the high-end RB2 category.
Trey Benson Week 4 Fantasy Outlook vs. Seahawks
Benson enters a favorable spot to kick off his first NFL start.
The Seahawks have allowed the 13th most FPs to RBs on the year, and 9th most schedule-adjusted points. Seattle has particularly struggled against receiving backs; Christian McCaffrey racked up 9 receptions (10 targets) & 73 yards, while Jaylen Warren broke lose for 4 receptions & 86 receiving yards. As long as Benson remains the main pass-catching RB, he should be in a prime spot to rack up some hefty receiving yards.
The Cardinals are 1.5 home underdogs with a 44.5 Over/Under, so Vegas is projecting a close battle with a fair amount of scoring. This script should keep Benson involved early and often.
Ultimately, I expect Benson to handle roughly 70% of the RB touches tonight while finding the end zone. I project him for 20 touches (4 receptions), 88 YFS, and 1 TD. He slides in as my RB21 in my Week 4 Fantasy Football Rankings.
Wondering if you should start Trey Benson tonight? Tune in to our Week 4 Start ‘Em Sit ‘Em TNF Pre-game show!
