Trey Benson

[Russ Smith]

All last year I was singing his praises, he was the one RB in the draft I really wanted and I still am glad we drafted him. I also say his improvement is the key to the season offensively. You can't NOT love Conner, he runs so hard, does everything we ask of him, with the back story with him overcoming cancer etc you can't help but pull for him. But he's simply not fast enough, we need to get to a point where we can reduce his carries so that some of that load goes to someone who can break off the occasional big run. The hope is that guy is Benson.

If he's not ready yet they ought to consider moving up Carter but I understand why they did it the way they did, DeMercado is 3rd down back, Dallas plays special teams, Conner and Benson are the RB's.

Detroit has a VERY good run defense, but it was also really obvious yesterday that Conner's lack of speed was an issue. Benson's first run was 6 yards, Conner had 9 carries for 17 yards 7 being his longest and that one was blocked for much more than 7. But it's not Conner's fault Benson isn't getting more carries, it's Benson's fault he's still dancing too much as we saw on the 2nd carry.

So far it seems like a situation where he's still saying both Conner and Carter are working with him in practice, but if the light doesn't come on soon they might have to consider adding Carter just to get a change of pace.

I hope the light comes on he's big and fast and terrific in space, I think he's absolutely the RB of the future for us. I just wish he was more ready right now

 

[FB94]

I like him as RB2 but man I wish he was more decisive and plant that foot in the ground and go north. He tends to try and bounce it outside. Still a rook with very limited carries so not worried

 

[kerouac9]

I don't get what y'all see in this guy. I didn't watch him at FSU, but he hasn't shown any outstanding traits has a pro, including when he was up against practice squadders and CrossFit trainers at the end of preseason games.

2.6 YPC against Duke. 3.7 YPC against North Alabama. 3.2 YPC against Boston College. Okay.

 

[football karma]

it's Benson's fault he's still dancing too much as we saw on the 2nd carry.

game on the line and your 220 lb rookie RB turns down taking a DB on to get the first down and instead gets pushed OB

not a good look.

First down run in the 1st quarter and he turns it down -- ill accept that. But not on the carry noted.

 

[Russ Smith]

I like him as RB2 but man I wish he was more decisive and plant that foot in the ground and go north. He tends to try and bounce it outside. Still a rook with very limited carries so not worried

If you look at his preseason carries the one negative was a tendency to try and take it wide, see he wasn't going to get the corner and then just kind of slide down. I watched a video of all his pre season carries he did that 4-5 times in preseason games.

If you saw him in college he wasn't doing that so I think it's more hey these NFL guys are faster than in college I need to adjust. I just hope he adjusts soon. I still think we're a year away but the NFL seems to have a ton of parity this year, sure would be nice for him to figure it out this year, give us an extra dimension on offense

 

[Russ Smith]

I don't get what y'all see in this guy. I didn't watch him at FSU, but he hasn't shown any outstanding traits has a pro, including when he was up against practice squadders and CrossFit trainers at the end of preseason games.

2.6 YPC against Duke. 3.7 YPC against North Alabama. 3.2 YPC against Boston College. Okay.

Big, fast and has the ability to cut on a dime. ALso has good hands.

He was by most the top rated RB in the draft, it was a surprise he was the 2nd one picked not the first. The one concern everyone had, other than the knee injury at Oregon, was a tendency to not be patient, as one guy said he'll run into his blocker every so often because he doesn't wait for the block to develop. The one thing he really didn't do in college was dance around trying to pop the big one, he saw the hole and hit it.

 

[Zeem_Freeze]

I don't get what y'all see in this guy. I didn't watch him at FSU, but he hasn't shown any outstanding traits has a pro, including when he was up against practice squadders and CrossFit trainers at the end of preseason games.

2.6 YPC against Duke. 3.7 YPC against North Alabama. 3.2 YPC against Boston College. Okay.

"I didn't watch him, not sure what you all see" is an all-time classic, even for ASFN forums.

You clearly looked up his stats, and saw he averaged 6.1 per attempt across his 2 years at FSU and stacked 2,267 all purpose yards. Why not mention that in your post?

Benson will be just fine. College schemes, and very few NFL schemes, have guards and centers pulling as often as they do in Petzing's scheme... these plays develop slower and take some getting used to.

 

[Stout]

Might as well play him this season, as we aren't making the playoffs. Get him blooded and see if he is the future at the position.

 

[Zeem_Freeze]

Might as well play him this season, as we aren't making the playoffs. Get him blooded and see if he is the future at the position.

losses to Bills and Lions, both superbowl contenders, the NFC West is in disarray, and you've concluded we aren't a playoff team?

 

[Stout]

losses to Bills and Lions, both superbowl contenders, the NFC West is in disarray, and you've concluded we aren't a playoff team?

That's what I thought before the season and I'm not thinking we're going to get there, no.

 

[Zeem_Freeze]

That's what I thought before the season and I'm not thinking we're going to get there, no.

fair.... I still think if we get through front half of the season at .500 then we are in position to close strong with a weak schedule back half

Just keep floating around .500 for now

 

[kerouac9]

Big, fast and has the ability to cut on a dime. ALso has good hands.

He was by most the top rated RB in the draft, it was a surprise he was the 2nd one picked not the first. The one concern everyone had, other than the knee injury at Oregon, was a tendency to not be patient, as one guy said he'll run into his blocker every so often because he doesn't wait for the block to develop. The one thing he really didn't do in college was dance around trying to pop the big one, he saw the hole and hit it.

I don't know what scouting reports you were reading:

The Ringer Draft Guide - He’s a boom-or-bust runner whose vision is erratic; he tends to run with a mind for the big play, choosing to bounce the run to the outside or reverse field instead of just following his blocks and picking up hard yards. He will need to smooth out his tempo and avoid dancing behind the line at the next level.

NFL.com draft profile -

• Leaves yards on the field due to bouts of indecisiveness.
• Too many wasted steps in getting to where he needs to go.

Pro Football Network -

• At times, misses optimal pathways in congestion, failing to press behind blocks.
• Occasionally hesitates and wastes motion when space ahead is negated.

Dana Brugler of The Athletic (paywall) - "Overall, Benson’s vision and run instincts tend to be spotty, but he runs hard off tackle with the burst and balance to stay afloat through contact. Cut in the Melvin Gordon mold, he projects best as part of an NFL committee, in which he’d have any-down and big-play potential."

"I didn't watch him, not sure what you all see" is an all-time classic, even for ASFN forums.

You clearly looked up his stats, and saw he averaged 6.1 per attempt across his 2 years at FSU and stacked 2,267 all purpose yards. Why not mention that in your post?

Benson will be just fine. College schemes, and very few NFL schemes, have guards and centers pulling as often as they do in Petzing's scheme... these plays develop slower and take some getting used to.

I watched the same videos that most did after we drafted him. I probably even posted them here in his draft thread. Petzing and Kyler need to stay ahead of the sticks and get consistent yards. If he couldn't do that in college -- hunting around for that more frequent big play -- he's going to struggle to get time outside a force-feeding regimen in the NFL.

 

[Russ Smith]

I don't know what scouting reports you were reading:

The Ringer Draft Guide - He’s a boom-or-bust runner whose vision is erratic; he tends to run with a mind for the big play, choosing to bounce the run to the outside or reverse field instead of just following his blocks and picking up hard yards. He will need to smooth out his tempo and avoid dancing behind the line at the next level.

NFL.com draft profile -

• Leaves yards on the field due to bouts of indecisiveness.
• Too many wasted steps in getting to where he needs to go.

Pro Football Network -

• At times, misses optimal pathways in congestion, failing to press behind blocks.
• Occasionally hesitates and wastes motion when space ahead is negated.

Dana Brugler of The Athletic (paywall) - "Overall, Benson’s vision and run instincts tend to be spotty, but he runs hard off tackle with the burst and balance to stay afloat through contact. Cut in the Melvin Gordon mold, he projects best as part of an NFL committee, in which he’d have any-down and big-play potential."



I watched the same videos that most did after we drafted him. I probably even posted them here in his draft thread. Petzing and Kyler need to stay ahead of the sticks and get consistent yards. If he couldn't do that in college -- hunting around for that more frequent big play -- he's going to struggle to get time outside a force-feeding regimen in the NFL.

I wasn't reading scouting reports I was watching them play games.

Again the most oft cited issue was his tendency to lack patience and occasionally run into blockers.

Baldinger for example talked about it recently, he loves Benson but he said he has to learn patience and how to read blocks to help his blockers.

Literally the first game he caught a pass, didn't wait for the block and then walked back to the huddle being lectured by the G telling him to wait and set up the block.

That's not what is meant by dancing, that's the lack of patience.

 

[ajcardfan]

fair.... I still think if we get through front half of the season at .500 then we are in position to close strong with a weak schedule back half

Just keep floating around .500 for now

That is what I thought and still think. If we are somehow 3-3 then we will be in contention until the end of the season. IMO. The schedule gets better

 

[SoonerLou]

All last year I was singing his praises, he was the one RB in the draft I really wanted and I still am glad we drafted him. I also say his improvement is the key to the season offensively. You can't NOT love Conner, he runs so hard, does everything we ask of him, with the back story with him overcoming cancer etc you can't help but pull for him. But he's simply not fast enough, we need to get to a point where we can reduce his carries so that some of that load goes to someone who can break off the occasional big run. The hope is that guy is Benson.

If he's not ready yet they ought to consider moving up Carter but I understand why they did it the way they did, DeMercado is 3rd down back, Dallas plays special teams, Conner and Benson are the RB's.

Detroit has a VERY good run defense, but it was also really obvious yesterday that Conner's lack of speed was an issue. Benson's first run was 6 yards, Conner had 9 carries for 17 yards 7 being his longest and that one was blocked for much more than 7. But it's not Conner's fault Benson isn't getting more carries, it's Benson's fault he's still dancing too much as we saw on the 2nd carry.

So far it seems like a situation where he's still saying both Conner and Carter are working with him in practice, but if the light doesn't come on soon they might have to consider adding Carter just to get a change of pace.

I hope the light comes on he's big and fast and terrific in space, I think he's absolutely the RB of the future for us. I just wish he was more ready right now

I was so frustrated with that 2nd run. If he at least just showed some power we not have been in position to have to go for it on 4th down.

 

[GatorAZ]

I don't get what y'all see in this guy. I didn't watch him at FSU, but he hasn't shown any outstanding traits has a pro, including when he was up against practice squadders and CrossFit trainers at the end of preseason games.

2.6 YPC against Duke. 3.7 YPC against North Alabama. 3.2 YPC against Boston College. Okay.

Looked nothing more than above-average to me at FSU. NFL talent but third rd was a reach for RB given our holes on the DL.