Just how good is Cedric Benson going to be?

[bweiser831]

Everyone either loves him or doesn't care and most think he will have the job sooner rather than later.

 

But I wonder what people really think of this kid.

 

As someone who doesn't watch college football, I'd love to know some things about this kid. His numbers are ASTONISHING - more than 8300 yards in high school as well as 127 touchdowns and then a tremendous college career.

 

Who does he compare to? Is he a sure thing to be better than Curtis Enis?

 

I'd love to hear from some people who really follow this. Thanks.

[Yukon Cornelius]

hes better than me but then agian ive been hert many times tackling bumbles .

[melrich]

Personally, I do not think he will have the type of NFL career that many expect. Being drafted by the Bears does not exactly help him either. I think his career will be decent but he won't be a Tier 1 RB any time soon.

[Bill Swerski]

I think he'll be pretty good, but he got A LOT of carries in college. I wouldn't be surprised if he blew out a knee sometime within the next three years. Outside of that, I think his numbers will be similar to Deuce McCallister's.

[Big Talker]

If the current coaching regime stays in Chicago a few years, I expect Benson will emerge as a top-10 fantasy back. The fact that he's on the bench right now will IMO help him in the long run (by teaching him that if he wants the job, he'll have to earn it).

[major-tom]

Everyone either loves him or doesn't care and most think he will have the job sooner rather than later.

 

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I'm not sure most think he will have the job sooner than later. A couple of more games and it will be later. Personally I think later because they have a rookie QB that needs to be protected and right now Benson cannot be trusted to do that.

[Big Talker]

I was talking about Benson with a friend just now, and he raised an interesting point. Cedric had an amazing high school and college career, but considering all the punishment the guy has taken, his body probably needs a year off. So in the long run it may be best for him to ride the pine this season.

 

Not a happy thought for redrafters, but a somewhat encouraging one for Benson's dynasty owners.

[Bill Swerski]

Not a happy thought for redrafters, but a somewhat encouraging one for Benson's dynasty owners.

 

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People who drafted Benson as a starter in redraft leagues made a mistake. He'll certainly get more carries later in the year, but there's no reason for Lovie to bench Jones at this point (4.5 yds/carry, 9 rec/41 yds, and 4 TDs in three games).

[Goopster24]

I think people who say he had too many carries in college need to think again. Right now his biggest problem is picking up blitz, something he wasn't used to at Texas. He will have to learn that to be a successfull NFL RB but other than that I truly think that Benson will become the best back to come out of this year's class. He was the best red-zone RB in college football history or at least that I've ever seen. When he got inside the 20, he was already sniffing the endzone and nothing stopped him from getting there. The Bears are slowly working him in and the moment Jones falters, it's Benson's job and his job only. They aren't paying him that money to sit on the bench and they drafted him for a reason. Jones doesn't fit Turner's offense; Benson does. Like another guy said: if the current coaching staff stays for a while, he is gonna floruish.

[gilthorp]

It really cracks me up when people say "Jones doesn't fit Turner's offense".

[Bill Swerski]

He was the best red-zone RB in college football history or at least that I've ever seen. When he got inside the 20, he was already sniffing the endzone and nothing stopped him from getting there.

 

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Ron Dayne was also a great college red-zone RB. I'm sure that Benson will be a MUCH better NFL RB than Dayne, but the amount of TDs that Benson scored in college has little to do with how many he'll score in the pros.

[Bill Swerski]

It really cracks me up when people say "Jones doesn't fit Turner's offense".

 

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No kidding. Isn't Muhammad the only other offensive player who's scored a TD? IIRC, Brien has made ONE field goal in about four attempts, so he's contributing almost nothing.

 

If people think THIS is bad, I'd hate to see Turner's offense WITHOUT Jones.

[Bring Back Pat!!!]

The number of carries he had in colege is absolutely a relevant point. A running backs body only has so many carries in it's career, and Benson used a ton of them in high school and college. Now, other backs have still managed to produce after a college workload like that; take a look at LT's college numbers. (907 carries vs Benson's 1112!!!) The difference is in running style. Benson is a bruiser. He's a big, hard-nosed punishing runner. LT is quick and elusive. Benson cannot, and wil not survive a 16 game schedule in the NFL. He ran through HUGH holes at Texas and does not have blazing speed or great quickness(ran in the 4.6s at the combine). I think Benson is much closer to being an Enis than he is to being a Duece. My $.02

[gilthorp]

Bill, my point is that I watched Turner's offense in Chicago and then in Champaign. Nothing over the last 7 years tells me that Thomas Jones wouldn't fit into the overall strategy that I have seen in all those years.

 

Not one thing. His offense used a RB as a dual threat. It was a classic 2 back, 1 TE, 2 WR set. He used both the RB and FB as runners, both as pass catchers, the TE wasn't used as often. The WR's were best when the ability was there for the deep ball (Brandon Lloyd, Walter Jones), but it's not like Kittner relied on a Benson like back for all those years.

 

The closest they came to that was Antonio Harris, and the comparison would be weak if that.

[gilthorp]

So, back on point. He can be as good as Ricky Williams in his prime and that's the plateau in my opinion. He's virtually the same size and speed...give or take a tick one way or the other.

[Jrick35]

I think people who say he had too many carries in college need to think again. Right now his biggest problem is picking up blitz, something he wasn't used to at Texas. He will have to learn that to be a successfull NFL RB but other than that I truly think that Benson will become the best back to come out of this year's class. He was the best red-zone RB in college football history or at least that I've ever seen. When he got inside the 20, he was already sniffing the endzone and nothing stopped him from getting there. The Bears are slowly working him in and the moment Jones falters, it's Benson's job and his job only. They aren't paying him that money to sit on the bench and they drafted him for a reason. Jones doesn't fit Turner's offense; Benson does. Like another guy said: if the current coaching staff stays for a while, he is gonna floruish.

 

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Lovie went out and got Jones before the start of last season based on the fact that he DOES fit the system.

[gilthorp]

Lovie went out and got Jones before the start of last season based on the fact that he DOES fit the system.

 

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3rd system in the last 3 years!

[DMD]

The number of carries he had in colege is absolutely a relevant point.  A running backs body only has so many carries in it's career, and Benson used a ton of them in high school and college.  Now, other backs have still managed to produce after a college workload like that; take a look at LT's college numbers. (907 carries vs Benson's 1112!!!) The difference is in running style. Benson is a bruiser. He's a big, hard-nosed punishing runner.  LT is quick and elusive.  Benson cannot, and wil not survive a 16 game schedule in the NFL.  He ran through HUGH holes at Texas and does not have blazing speed or great quickness(ran in the 4.6s at the combine). I think Benson is much closer to being an Enis than he is to being a Duece. My $.02

 

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For comparison sake, the official times as rookies were Benson 4.55 and Tomlinson 4.47, so there's only .08 difference in speed between the two. Benson never ran at the NFL combine nor did Tomlinson.

 

Tomlinson is currently listed as 5-10, 221 lbs. Benson weighed in at the combine as 5-10, 222 lbs. (though somehow his current bio on NFL.com has him as 6-0, 215). They are essentially the same size and pretty much the same speed.

 

Virtually every top RB in the NFL was very heavily used in High School, and with the shorter seasons they play I cannot imagine how those carries are even worth considering. Take any NFL RB and see what they did in high school and almost every top back was "the franchise" for their high school.

 

He did have a ton of carries in college, but that is like dinging him for being healthy and productive. So Benson had 219 more carries in college than Tomlinson - that's about 2/3 of an NFL season. Does that really make him more of an injury risk or more "used up"? Benson is not just a bruiser, he is considered quick and good in the open field as well. He is hardly a Bettis-clone. He's always been noted for being a complete back that can pick up the short yards AND hits the hole fast and is gone as well.

 

It's all speculation until he actually plays as a full-time RB, but I just cannot imagine that college carries are any harder on a RB than NFL carries and he didn't have that many more than most top RBs did. His 1112 carries in 4 years in college were less than what Alexander has done the last four years in the NFL, so do we consider Alexander as injury prone or used up? Both LT and Alexander were heavily used in high school and college as well.

 

I just do not see how anything he has ever done makes him any more injury prone than any other RB (and probably less since he has been healthy enough for all those carries). He is pretty much the exact same size as both LT and Alexander and his measureables all come off in the same range as both of them. Alexander had a 4.58/40 as a rookie - is he too slow for the game? Benson basically has done everything he could have possibly done and did it to historic highs in most categories while remaining healthy even though he was the #1 focus of every defense he has ever faced. I find it a bit hard to believe that he also spent 8 years of high school and college blessed with offensive lines that made him look better than he was.

 

I just cannot see how anyone can downgrade him right now. He's done about as much as was possible and his only problem was holding out so long this summer.

[Bill Swerski]

Bill, my point is that I watched Turner's offense in Chicago and then in Champaign. Nothing over the last 7 years tells me that Thomas Jones wouldn't fit into the overall strategy that I have seen in all those years.

 

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Agreed. For some reason, people seem have the impression that Jones is a carbon-copy of Westbrook. Jones is very effective between the tackles, as evidenced by his numerous TDs inside the 5 over the past year.

 

Jones may not be a good long-term solution because of his propensity for injury, but he's been the only offensive skill position player worth a d@mn on that squad for the past year.

Edited September 30, 2005 by Bill Swerski

[Roustabout]

One question you have to ask is whether Benson would have gotten these yards and TDs if he was running. In other words, is Jones playing especially well or is it the nature of the system? (I haven't seen any Bears games this year so I won't try to answer that.)

 

Speaking as a hopeful Benson owner...

[Bring Back Pat!!!]

For comparison sake, the official times as rookies were Benson 4.55 and Tomlinson 4.47, so there's only .08 difference in speed between the two. Benson never ran at the NFL combine nor did Tomlinson.

 

Tomlinson is currently listed as 5-10, 221 lbs. Benson weighed in at the combine as 5-10, 222 lbs. (though somehow his current bio on NFL.com has him as 6-0, 215). They are essentially the same size and pretty much the same speed.

 

Virtually every top RB in the NFL was very heavily used in High School, and with the shorter seasons they play I cannot imagine how those carries are even worth considering. Take any NFL RB and see what they did in high school and almost every top back was "the franchise" for their high school.

 

He did have a ton of carries in college, but that is like dinging him for being healthy and productive. So Benson had 219 more carries in college than Tomlinson - that's about 2/3 of an NFL season. Does that really make him more of an injury risk or more "used up"? Benson is not just a bruiser, he is considered quick and good in the open field as well. He is hardly a Bettis-clone. He's always been noted for being a complete back that can pick up the short yards AND hits the hole fast and is gone as well.

 

It's all speculation until he actually plays as a full-time RB, but I just cannot imagine that college carries are any harder on a RB than NFL carries and he didn't have that many more than most top RBs did. His 1112 carries in 4 years in college were less than what Alexander has done the last four years in the NFL, so do we consider Alexander as injury prone or used up? Both LT and Alexander were heavily used in high school and college as well.

 

I just do not see how anything he has ever done makes him any more injury prone than any other RB (and probably less since he has been healthy enough for all those carries). He is pretty much the exact same size as both LT and Alexander and his measureables all come off in the same range as both of them. Alexander had a 4.58/40 as a rookie - is he too slow for the game? Benson basically has done everything he could have possibly done and did it to historic highs in most categories while remaining healthy even though he was the #1 focus of every defense he has ever faced. I find it a bit hard to believe that he also spent 8 years of high school and college blessed with offensive lines that made him look better than he was.

 

I just cannot see how anyone can downgrade him right now. He's done about as much as was possible and his only problem was holding out so long this summer.

 

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My point was not that Benson carried so many more times than LT. They both carried it a ton in college. The point was, when LT came out there were people, who will never admit it now, who thought he had 'shot his load' in college; too many carries. As far as productivity in the NFL is concerned, Benson has allready had four seasons under his belt (but in college)... how many more can he go? What's the average career of an NFL running back?? Shortest of any position, 3.5 or so years (don't have the exacts handy)

 

And just because guys are the same 'dimensions', does not mean they run the same. Priest Holmes and JJ Arrington are the EXACT same size, to the pound and 1/2 inch. Has anyone seen them both run in the NFL?? Priest has been one of the best short yardage backs in recent memory, running with power as well as with quickness and moves. JJ is not that type of back (at least yet), everyone wants to call him a speed back and a change of pace back. They have very different running styles, despite the identical size. From what I saw of Benson at Texas, he is more powerful than fast, and most comparable to a Stephen Davis or Rudi Johnson than an LT or a Portis.

[Cunning Runt]

Lovie went out and got Jones before the start of last season based on the fact that he DOES fit the system.

 

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Maybe I'm wrong here, but isn't this Offensive Coordinator Ron Turner's 1st year with the Bears and as such, it would likely be a different system?

[rawbwilsh]

I have him on my team. I think he'll be a simular RB to Curtis Ennis, Ron Dayne, Michael Bennett, Trung Candidate, James Jackson, William Green, Kevan Barlow, Marcell Shipp, Tyrone Wheatley, and last but not least Lawerence from Nebraska.

 

Some where in this range.