After serving as the engine of the Florida State Seminoles’ offense for two seasons, does Trey Benson have a case as the top RB prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft? After a 2023 campaign that brought career-bests in touchdown and receiving output, Benson is on the rise.
Trey Benson Draft Profile and Measurements
- Height: 6’0 1/4″
- Weight: 220 pounds
- Length: 31 1/2″
- Wingspan: 76 3/8″
- Hand: 9 1/4″
- Position: Running Back
- School: Florida State
- Current Year: Redshirt Junior
There have always been whispers that Benson was special. The high school numbers helped with that. A two-time captain at St. Joseph Catholic, Travis rushed for 3,616 yards and 48 touchdowns in his final two seasons. He fielded four-star billing as a recruit and signed with Mario Cristobal and the Oregon Ducks.
MORE: Top RBs in the 2024 NFL Draft
Benson’s track record was strong, but he never got a chance to show it at Oregon. As a true freshman in 2020, Benson suffered a catastrophic knee injury during a practice — tearing his ACL, MCL, and meniscus. The next year, on the heels of a grueling recovery, he only saw six carries for 22 yards and a score.
Benson’s two-year stint at Oregon provided more adversity than prosperity. A transfer to Florida State helped revitalize his career. Alongside Jordan Travis in Mike Norvell’s offense, Benson racked up career highs in all metrics in 2022, amassing 990 yards and nine touchdowns on 154 carries while also catching 13 passes for 144 yards.
Trey Benson — a special dudepic.twitter.com/nBgdpkLja3
— College Football Network (@CFN365) April 28, 2023
In 2023, Keon Coleman joined the fold via the transfer portal, and the Seminoles’ potent passing attack lightened the box and allowed Benson to once again rumble toward major production. He racked up 906 yards and 14 scores on 156 carries and also caught 20 passes for 227 yards and a score.
Coleman trimmed down to 216 pounds for the NFL Combine, and there, he put his vertical speed on display, running a blistering 4.39 40-yard dash. The athleticism and production metrics are all on Benson’s side, but does the tape follow suit?
Benson’s Scouting Report
Strengths
- Hyper-dense back with a powerful, compact frame and a strong lower body.
- Flashes uncanny foot quickness and stride freedom for his size on corrective cuts.
- Has near-elite vertical speed and explosiveness for his size and can capitalize on holes.
- Can quickly identify open lanes in the B and C gaps and instantly trigger upfield.
- Shows glimpses of stellar interior vision, slithering through A gaps with smooth control.
- Can effortlessly absorb solo tacklers with his thick midsection while maintaining speed.
- Is extremely hard to slow in space with his urgent strides, mass, and constant leg drive.
- Displays a sneering indifference to contact threats, attacking defenders with stiff-arms.
- Has a finisher’s mentality in open space and will drag defenders with his leg churn.
- Has shown he can get skinny to attack lanes then scrape through pursuit defenders.
- Adaptable zone runner who can quickly identify backside lanes and cut back inside.
- Can offset solo DBs in space with sudden stutter and gallop-steps while staying vertical.
- Flashes promise as a receiver and has shown he can snare tight passes against contact.
- Able to run delayed outs from the backfield and extend past his frame to convert.
- Willing pass protector who actively squares up defenders and relishes the contact.
Weaknesses
- Doesn’t always trust his speed to breach contain consistently on outside runs.
- At times, misses optimal pathways in congestion, failing to press behind blocks.
- Occasionally hesitates and wastes motion when space ahead is negated.
- Can sometimes be quicker to react to early contact threats and adapt early in reps.
- Sometimes drifts too far upfield off the exchange and rolls into congested areas.
- Doesn’t quite have elite hip flexibility and can’t always swivel freely in congestion.
- On occasion, slight hip stiffness can cause him to drift upright on cuts in space.
- Sometimes lacks balance and control when stacking cuts in space to offset DBs.
- Lacks volume as a receiving back and has room to expand his route tree.
- Sometimes has room to be more patient in pass protection, giving up positioning.
Current Draft Projection and Summary
Benson is my RB1 in the 2024 NFL Draft, worthy of early-to-mid Day 2 draft capital. His size-speed profile and his baseline vision and footwork allow for schematic flexibility across gap and zone looks, and his visible potential as a receiver serves as a bonus.
As a projected volume back, Benson brings plenty to like. He has a strong, compact build at around 6’0″, 200 pounds, with a powerful lower body. He’s an explosive vertical runner with constant leg churn who uses forward-pressing physicality, tenacity, and elite contact balance to routinely withstand tackles and glean maximum potential from runs.
Even past the physical element, there are appealing qualities as well. Benson flashes surprising foot speed and throttle freedom for his size, and he has some sharp cutting ability as well.
Going further, Benson has good vision and can identify initial lanes inside or divert to cutback lanes and adapt. At the second level, he has the angle IQ to stem solo tacklers with initial rushing angles, baiting them into improper pursuit paths before exploding into space.
The questions for Benson lie in his two-phase utility and his ultimate ceiling as a runner. While his vision and creative instincts are both good, he doesn’t know how to consistently deal with backfield penetrators — he can be more efficient using his space behind the line.
While reasonably agile and fluid, Benson’s hips are a bit stiff, limiting his range and flexibility on lateral cuts. And as a receiver, while he’s flashed upside, he needs more volume to prove himself. 2023 was a step in the right direction, but there’s still work to do.
Nevertheless, Benson has the size, explosiveness, foot speed, contact balance, baseline vision and feel, and relentless physicality to be an exceptional workhorse back at the NFL level. At his peak, he can be an impact starter with value across run schemes.
Draft with your friends today! PFN’s Mock Draft Simulator now supports multiple drafters during the same draft! Ensure your player rankings are up to date on the 2024 NFL Draft Big Board and you know what every NFL team needs before drafting.