2024 Rookie Profile: Trey Benson – Running Back

Benson’s college career began at Oregon, where he suffered a severe knee injury in 2020. This essentially wiped out his entire Ducks tenure before he transferred to Florida State.

Benson enjoyed two solid years for Florida State, topping 1,100 total yards in both seasons in Tallahassee. He concluded his college career with a 1,133-yard 16-touchdown season, helping Florida State go undefeated in 2023. Benson also enjoyed a mini-breakout as a pass catcher last season, topping the 20-reception threshold and showing he can be useful in passing situations. 

Despite his collegiate success and pedigree, Benson has always been an afterthought in the dynasty community. When discussing the top RBs in the class, everyone talks about the likes of Blake Corum, Braelon Allen, and, more recently, Jonathan Brooks. Now, following the combine, Benson is squarely in that RB1 conversation. 

2024 Scouting Combine

The Florida State product had a mic-drop kind of day in Indianapolis on Saturday, headlined by his 4.39 (at 216 pounds) in the 40-yard dash. According to RAS football, Benson scored a 9.78 out of 10 RAS (relative athletic score), ranking 40th among all 1,745 running backs tested since 1987.

Benson’s scintillating performance at the combine immediately invokes athletic profile comparisons to Breece Hall and Jonathan Taylor. As such, Benson’s dynasty (and real-life draft) stock seems to be steeply on the rise.

The question remains whether or not the growing post-combine hype surrounding Benson is legitimate. Will his impressive combine performance translate into higher draft capital investment on April 26? Is Benson just a workout warrior who will struggle at the next level, or is there more substance to his game than some believe?

Ultimately, is Benson going to be worth drafting in 2024 rookie drafts?

Let’s take a deeper look.

Strengths

Can Play Like a Big Back

First and foremost, unlike almost any other back in this class, Benson — at 6’0″ and 216 pounds — boasts the physique and athletic profile of a true three-down workhorse at the next level. Obviously, way more goes into being a good NFL running back, but this is an excellent place to start. 

There was a debate last year about whether the likes of Jahmyr Gibbs and Devon Achane could physically hold up to the demands of the position in the NFL. Benson presents no such concerns. He boasts a powerful, compact frame that allows him to move piles and drag defenders and easily pass through arm tackles like a ghost. 

Beyond Benson’s raw size and power, he runs with attitude and enjoys finishing runs. People will take this out of context, but Benson’s upright yet angry running style reminds me of Adrian Peterson. 

Movement Skills at his Size

What makes Benson potentially special is that he combines that size and power with the ability to shoot through gaps and showcase that 4.39 pace. He also gets into gear quickly, as evidenced by his 1.51 10-yard split, fourth best in the class. 

Elite fantasy RBs are made of burst and big-play ability possessed by a back who can shoulder a big workload. Benson brings this to the table, separating himself from the likes of Alexander Mattison, AJ Dillon, or Gus Edwards. 

In addition to his now combine-certified pace, Benson shows underrated slipperiness and agility. Many backs Benson’s size are just locomotives that can’t change direction once they get moving. Benson runs a big high and is stiff-hipped sometimes, but he regularly shows a surprising amount of quickness and lateral mobility for his size. 

Underrated Receiving Capabilities 

No one will probably mistake Benson for Marshall Faulk out there as a receiver, but the former Seminole looks like a natural pass catcher when given the opportunity. As mentioned above, Benson took a step forward as a receiver in his final collegiate season, snagging 20 catches in 2023. 

Again, I don’t think Benson will necessarily be heavily relied upon as a receiver at the NFL level, but I think teams will want to keep him on the field in passing situations due to his gifts with the ball in the open field.

Weaknesses 

Indecisiveness and Missed Lanes

Sometimes, Benson seems like the proverbial bull in a china shop. Sprinkled throughout his many examples of athletic prowess are plenty of instances of him running without refinement, missing the correct lane, and leaving yards on the field. To be fair to Benson, this issue seemed to be much improved in 2023 versus 2022, but it is still not something I would consider a strength.

When Benson relies on pulling blockers and is forced to navigate through traffic, he sometimes struggles to set up the play effectively and instead tries to be a hero. 

As we’ve mentioned many times, Benson is a beast. At times, I think he needs to remember that and look to take a strong, direct path to guaranteed yardage rather than try to dance around and do too much.

Pass Protection

This is more of a question mark than a confirmed weakness, but Benson does not have a strong body of work as a pass-blocker in college. While he has the frame and physicality to be an effective pass protector, Benson does not look extremely comfortable as a blocker yet.

I still have hope for him in this regard, however. Even if Benson can be put into situations where he can chip or assist the tackle before getting involved as a passing target, I think he can fight his way into the field on third downs.

Medical History

Benson’s productive career at Florida State has eased the concerns, but we need to remember that he suffered a catastrophic knee injury as a freshman at Oregon in December 2020. Benson tore his ACL, MCL, and LCL, as well as his medial meniscus and gracious tendon in his hamstring, all in one fell swoop. 

There was reportedly no nerve damage, and Benson has excelled on the field since, but a knee injury of this nature is good to be aware of, at least moving forward. 

NFL Draft Capital

As we have discussed, Benson has all the physical tools to be exactly what dynasty managers want from a rookie RB. He’s an out-of-the-box workhorse whom they can plug into lineups right away. Much is being made of Benson’s performance at the combine, and rightfully so. But we already knew Benson was athletic, didn’t we? We dynasty managers must be careful not to “double-count” Benson’s performance since it was impressive but not necessarily shocking. 

NFL Draft capital and landing spot will be vital for Benson. Some of the concerns about his vision and decision-making could definitely be corrected with effective coaching and a favorable scheme fit. If his future coaches can convince Benson to take what defenses are giving him more often and play hero ball a little less, I think Benson could live up to the hype. 

Rookie Draft Capital

Benson’s combine performance moved him up to 14th overall in my (Superflex) rookie rankings, technically my RB1. I have Benson neck-and-neck with Jonathan Brooks in my rankings. Benson gets a bit of a nod because Brooks is coming off ACL surgery. 

If Benson can parlay his combine performance into an early Day 2 selection by someone like the Cowboys or Ravens, you will see Benson creep into the top nine or ten in rookie drafts, maybe even higher.

With draft capital, I would happily take a chance on Benson in that range if I have a dynasty roster with an opportunity to make the playoffs with him as part of my RB room. If my dynasty roster is not quite ready in 2024, I would probably pass on Benson in favor of one of the highly touted receivers in this class. 

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