There was some excitement last season that Trey Benson could overtake James Conner as the Arizona Cardinals’ RB1. That never happened. Nevertheless, Benson is firmly entrenched as the team’s RB2. Is there fantasy football upside for the sophomore running back?
Trey Benson Fantasy Outlook
There is a difference between early third-round and late third-round draft capital. The Cardinals’ selection of Benson so early in the third round increased the likelihood that they were drafting him to be their running back of the future. Perhaps he still is. But after his rookie season, he’s no closer to taking over that role.
Benson was expected to be the Cardinals’ clear RB2 as a rookie, with the potential to wrest the RB1 role away from Conner should the veteran falter or get injured. Instead, Benson couldn’t even jump Emari Demercado as the main guy behind Conner.
Conner remained healthy until the end of Week 16, never giving Benson the chance to see an increased workload.
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It’s hard to evaluate Benson based on the chances he did get, as they were so minimal. Benson carried the ball 63 times for 291 yards while catching six passes for 50 yards. 69 touches in 13 games is an average of 5.3 per game. He was reasonably efficient, but that really doesn’t matter, as volume is king.
James Conner Remains Entrenched As the Cardinals’ RB1
Despite drafting Benson, who is now 23 years old, the Cardinals recommitted to Conner, signing him to an extension through the end of the 2026 season in late November. We can confidently say Benson is not a threat to Conner in the slightest.
Conner exceeded a 65% snap share in eight games last season. He was over 70% in six of them. His 66.3% opportunity share was a very solid 18th, and his 11.2% target share was 16th.
At best, Benson can hope to establish himself as the clear RB2 and be the guy who enters the game first whenever Conner needs a breather. But that’s all fantasy managers can expect from Benson. He’s a handcuff, and a speculative one at that.
The best handcuffs are those that can effectively replace a backfield starter if they go down and can produce a reasonable percentage of the starter’s fantasy output. If Conner goes down, it will probably be Benson, but we’re not sure. And how close can he get to being Conner? We’re also not sure.
Every 3rd Round Rookie RB to score less than 100 PPR points since 2010
Some hits (of varying sizes) include:
-James Conner
-Tevin Coleman
-Kenyan Drake
-Darrell Henderson
-Damien Harris
-Jet MckinnonThis is the Trey Benson, Blake Corum, Marshawn Lloyd chart pic.twitter.com/Mvqeq2HxIE
— Ron Stewart (@RonStewart_) May 20, 2025
At 30 years old, Conner is at risk of getting hurt. That makes Benson worth a dart. I have him ranked at RB41, which is considerably ahead of his RB52 ADP. He’s a fine RB4 or RB5 to throw on your bench. Just be prepared to drop him early in the season if you need the spot and Conner is still going strong.
Dan Fornek’s Trey Benson Projection
It wouldn’t have been surprising if Benson had a fantasy-relevant role after being drafted in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Benson had back-to-back seasons at Florida State with 167+ touches, 1,100+ all-purpose yards, and at least nine total touchdowns. The Arizona Cardinals drafted him to add an explosive complement to the backfield after running a 4.39 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine.
However, Conner posted a career-high 16 games played, the second time in his career that he missed one or fewer games. That, combined with Benson’s injury issues, led the rookie to play just 13 games in his first season. His final stat line (63 carries for 291 yards and a touchdown with six receptions for 59 yards) wasn’t inspiring, but his 5.1 yards per touch were respectable. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to earn Benson more than a 16.6% snap share in his first season.
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There has been a steady drumbeat of positive buzz surrounding Benson this summer from the coaching staff and general manager. The lack of backfield additions this offseason also suggests that the team believes in the second year back. However, the coaching staff has made it clear that this backfield still belongs to James Conner until further notice.
Benson should see a larger role in 2025 and will have starting upside given Conner’s lengthy injury history. However, he will not have much weekly fantasy value unless there is an injury ahead of him on the depth chart. If Conner were to get injured, Benson is a quality bench stash with weekly top 30 upside.
