2024 NFL Draft Rookie Profile: RB Trey Benson (Fantasy Football)

The 2024 NFL Draft is quickly approaching which means is rookie season around dynasty circles. If you’ve been following this class for the last few months, you’re well aware that this class is pretty stacked at wide receiver and quarterback. As for the running backs…not so much. As of this writing, there isn’t a RB projected to go inside the top 50 picks of the NFL Draft in just a few weeks. With that said, there’s plenty of opportunity for Trey Benson out of Florida State to emerge as this year’s RB1, especially with Texas’ Jonathan Brooks recovering from a torn ACL.

Editor’s Note: This article is part of our Rookie Profile series going on until the 2024 NFL Draft. For more on each rookie, check out Andy, Mike, and Jason’s exclusive rookie rankings and the production profiles found only in the Dynasty Pass, part of the UDK+ for 2024.

College Production Profile

Benson had a very difficult start to his college career. As a true freshman at Oregon, he tore his ACL, MCL, both his lateral and medial meniscus, and his hamstring. As a result of this complex knee injury, he barely got on the field while in Eugene and transferred to Florida State after the 2021 season.

In two years at Florida State, Benson was not necessarily a true workhorse. He split backfield touches as part of a committee, but he was highly efficient with over six yards per carry and just over 11 yards per catch while at Florida State. Given his size profile (more on that soon), Benson does have the build to handle a full workload in the NFL, but her certainly wasn’t used that way in college. For reference, Benson only accounted for 37% of his team’s rushing attempts in 2023 which is well below the likes of bell cows likes of Jonathan Brooks (50%), Audric Estime (50%), Braelon Allen (47%) and Blake Corum (47%).

 

Measurables

At 6 feet tall and 216 pounds, Trey Benson is built like an NFL RB1. According to our prospect database in the Dynasty Pass, the average build for an NFL RB1 in college is just over 5’11” and 219 pounds. Just from a size standpoint, Benson certainly checks the box in terms of what we’re looking for in our fantasy RB.

At the NFL Combine where he weighed in at 216 pounds, he ran a 4.39 forty, which shows some of the explosiveness and speed that pops on tape. With this speed score profile, Benson scored a 9.78/10 on the RAS (Relative Athletic Score) and comps favorably to these fantasy RBs who were selected on Day 2 of the NFL Draft (at least from an athletic profile standpoint):

Obviously, the athletic profile of a player isn’t the only thing we care about, but it’s at least nice to see that Benson looks like an NFL RB from a size/speed standpoint. Next, let’s dive into the film for Benson during his time at FSU.

What’s on Tape

Games viewed: Wake Forest (2023), Clemson (2023), LSU (2023), Boston College (2023), Syracuse (2022), Georgia Tech (2022)

1. Explosiveness as a one-cut runner.

After running a 4.39, it should surprise no one that one of the first things that pops on tape for Benson is his ability to create explosive plays. In my opinion, he’s great when he’s able to push the run to the perimeter, find a crease, then cut it back upfield to get to the second level. According to PFF, Benson was 10th among all FBS backs who logged 100+ carries in Breakaway Rush Rate in 2023. In other words, he’s able to hit the home run and rip off chunk gains.

2. The ability to catch the football.

Benson isn’t CMC as a pass catcher, but he definitely has the ability to contribute in the passing game. As a pass catcher out of the backfield, Benson caught 32 of 39 targets at Florida State and averaged 1.31 yards per route run during his final two seasons in school. Again, I wouldn’t say Benson is elite in this category, but he at least checks the box in terms of being able to contribute in all three phases of the game should his NFL team choose to use him in that way. NFL scouts have also written positively about his pass protection skills, which could help him get on the field early in his NFL career.

NFL Network’s Lance Zierlein: “Benson has some talent as a pass catcher and enough protection ability to warrant a role as a complementary three-down option.”

The Athletic’s Dane Brugler: “Because the Florida State offense was committed to a package for backup RB Lawrance Toafili, Benson averaged only 13.5 offensive touches per game in 2023, but he showed key improvements as both a pass catcher and blocker.”

3. Above average contact balance and the ability to break tackles.

Benson was 57th in the country last year in missed tackles forced per attempt and 69th in yards after contact per attempt, according to PFF. On tape, you definitely see an ability to absorb contact and pick up positive yards, but I wouldn’t necessarily say Benson is the most elusive or agile RB in terms of ‘make you miss’ ability.

Trey Benson contact balance pic.twitter.com/V6x9zhWluY

— Billy M (@BillyM_91) March 29, 2024

What’s Not on Tape

1. Top notch lateral quickness.

While Benson is a very explosive rusher who can get to the second level, he’s not the most fluid athlete when moving East to West. When I watched Benson, I was some reps where he struggled to make defenders miss with agility. When he does make guys miss, it’s more about his ability to fight through contact and win with his speed.

2. Fumbles.

Hey, this is great! In the games I watched, I did not see any ball security issues for Benson. After watching his games, I went back to look at his numbers. According to PFF, Benson didn’t fumble once in his pro career from 2021-2023. That ball security could go a long way in earning his coaches’ trust when he gets to the next level.

Fantasy Outlook

According to Grinding the Mocks, Benson is not expected to go inside the top 50 of the NFL Draft. Meanwhile, Mock Draft Database has Benson 64th overall on their consensus big board. In early March, ESPN’s Jordan Reid mocked Benson 56th overall to the Cowboys. At this point in the process, Benson looks locked into the back end of the second round, but there’s a chance he could slip to the early third based on consensus big boards and mocks.

With day two draft capital, a good production profile and a great athletic profile, Benson looks like a solid prospect for fantasy. With that said, we do need to be realistic about this class in general. There’s no Breece Hall, Bijan Robinson, Jahmyr Gibbs, etc. in this year’s group. However, as of now, Benson has a strong case as RB1 in this class and is worth a look in the early second round of rookie drafts in dynasty leagues, depending on landing spot.

He profiles as a 75th percentile prospect according to our own Marvin Elequin‘s rookie model, and according to his database, day two RBs in this range have a hit rate of 64%. It definitely shows that while Benson looks like a good prospect, he’s got some holes in his profile.